In another posting here, someone (I cannot recall who/where) mentioned sync.com which got me looking into it and finally registering for a trial account. I am interested in using it as a Dropbox alternative. I want to sync files across my various computers / iDevices (obviously), but do not want to store any sensitive / personal data in Dropbox as they do not provide on-server encryption, as sync.com appears to provide.
I was wondering if anyone had any experiences or opinions (good or bad) to share that might help out before I go all in.
It is difficult to move away from Dropbox and OneDrive – between the two of them, they are integrated in most of the applications I use. They each work as document providers in iOS Files. I didn’t (yet) see those features in Sync.com. Does it go head to head with Dropbox in terms of app and Files integration?
I’ve looked at sync a couple of years ago, at the time their feature set was pretty limited and pricy.
Just checked again, and though they have made improvements I still think their featureset, and integration, quite limited for the price.
I use boxcryptor and cryptomator with dropbox, which gives me the best of both worlds, access to my files from anywhere and securely stored with keys under my control.
We use it at work. Due to provincial privacy legislation we’re very, very restricted about being able to use US hosted services (anything hosted outside of Canada actually), and Sync is one of the few cloud storage services that is on the approved list.
For researchers who work collaboratively with others in multiple sites, it seems to work well enough.
I agree that Dropbox is much more widely integrated that pretty much any other platform, and for that reason I plan to keep Dropbox active as well. However, unless I have misunderstood, Dropbox does not employ zero knowledge and has access to your files under terms detailed on their website. Sync (and other services such as Spideroak) claim zero knowledge and claim to have no access to your data.
Cryptomater or boxcrypter are options although with added complexity. Can you offer a preference between the two? Does either have an option for use in iOS as well?
I agree that Files / iOS access in general is an issue with these services. I loaded sync on my iPad and it seems usable.
Unless i have misread, I think sync is cheaper than Dropbox. Sync is 50 per year for 500gb which is all I need, and 99 per year for 2TB which I think I cheaper than Dropbox, and they are offering the option to permanently lock in that price which makes it tempting.
I don’t think they are as good at selective sync as Dropbox, but they offer a Vault that stores offline files that are not synced which would meet my needs since I don’t use selective sync at this point anyway.
If you’re referring to PIPEDA I do not believe there are any Russia/China-like directives forcing apps or services to use domestic servers. The important point is choosing a a provider operating on Canadian soil, which then requires the company to extend privacy protections under Canadian law to users. For that reason, for example, OneDrive For Business is considered just as legally usable as Sync.com.
I have been using Sync for a few months on my MacBook and iPhone for my archive files. I think it works well. I don’t use my iPhone to produce anything, so I do not need Sync to be integrated with any apps.
I have not started to use the vault yet, but have been thinking about putting some files in it to see how it works
I work in British Columbia’s public sector (university) and it’s our FIPPA that’s the most restrictive for us (and the most restrictive in Canada); PII isn’t allowed to leave the country.
Exactly how that’s interpreted in every instance is subject to considerable debate here to the extent that successive provincial governments have waffled back and forth as to whether or not the use of O365 is permitted. I believe that currently we’re on the “not” side of that issue, though some schools who had begun down that road when things were looking the other way seem to be continuing.
The whole thing is messy, so our guidance is to use Sync rather than other similar services.
Been using it a couple years. Overall, very satisfied as a super secure file storage vault. Love that it’s in Canada, and zero-knowledge. Prices are very good. Downside is the lack of integration as mentioned and inability to search using mobile apps or the web (this is mitegated if you keep a local copy synced as the computer will index that locally - I asked about this, and the lack of search comes with the air-tight security, so it’s a trade off). Overall, it’s an excellent bucket to store things in the cloud that you don’t want anyone to access but yourself. Don’t expect bells and whistles though. That kind of security comes with compromises to usability of the sort that Dropbox users will be accustomed to.
I was looking for a secure cloud and tried sync.com. It was good but I ended up using AxCrypt. I can use my old cloud provider (a lot of space for good money) and have the encryption I want.
Aside from application integration (which I would retain by keeping Dropbox for those uses) I’m still not sure what bells and whistles Dropbox provides vs sync or any other alternative product.
My hesitation after looking at cryptomater is primarily that a) I don’t want to have to choose which files to encrypt and which not, which I could get around by creating one top level vault in Dropbox and putting everything other than application specific data there, and b) I have the sense that the cryptomater iOS apps are even less useful on iOS than sync.com (which even supports folder creation which it seems most iOS cloud apps do not).
I may well gamble the 100 dollars and give it a try.
I am interesting in those kind of solutions as well, but can I ask what additional interesting features something like AxCrypt offers over a free an open source solution like Cryptomator (which seems to do pretty much the same thing)?
I am no expert on this topic, but AxCrypt seem to me like a more robust solution. I can encrypt files, folders or whole sections in my current file structure. I like the sharing option (although I do not use it often since the recipient needs to have AxCrypt as well) and since I am an attorney, most of my files are very sensitive and I want a solution I can trust (is paid).
Thank you very much – so you mean to just point the software to what you want encrypted without having to resort to specific folders within your file structure? If so, that’s a definite improvement over Cryptomator!