Post B2mxaFWldmCP8CF1Qe by rms@mastodon.xyz
 (DIR) More posts by rms@mastodon.xyz
 (DIR) Post #B2mxaFWldmCP8CF1Qe by rms@mastodon.xyz
       2026-01-29T20:50:52Z
       
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       [1/3] https://www.policyalternatives.ca/news-research/every-data-centre-is-a-u-s-military-base/European countries, and the UN, have discovered that depending on US companies for digital services puts them at risk of harassment or attack. The marketing term "the cloud" is used to lull people into disregarding the question of where their data is really kept, and who controls it. We have been saying for ten years that "There is no cloud - only computers belonging to others." When the "other"
       
 (DIR) Post #B2mxaLqU9NXKj5Vqzo by rms@mastodon.xyz
       2026-01-29T20:50:53Z
       
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       [2/3] is a US company, including Amazon, Apple, Google and Microsoft, you're making a mistake by using it. But the US is not the only country that might attack you. When the "other" is a non-US company, that too may be a mistake. So do your computing on your own computers, running only free software (since that's the software that users can control), and keep your data on your own computers too. It is safe to encrypt an archive on your own computer with the GNU Privacy Guard then save the
       
 (DIR) Post #B2mxaTNM9YzQ53whhg by rms@mastodon.xyz
       2026-01-29T20:50:54Z
       
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       [3/3] encrypted file on someone else's computer. But don't let the only copies be saved like that.
       
 (DIR) Post #B2n1IVo4mAasDy8QPg by wbpeckham@techhub.social
       2026-01-29T21:32:32Z
       
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       @rms I do believe that many of the U.S. citizens in the U.S.A. discovered that some time ago. I use services mostly in the EU and Scandinavia and my phone service is marketed out of Canada. Or I have the option and can afford it. Everything that I use in terms of software, other than Android itself, is free open source software And, amazingly, for the most part, I spend less money this way and get better results. This is a direction I started moving in 1997.