Cloud storage is convenient. That is why we use it.
iCloud Drive, Google Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive - they make files available everywhere and easy to share.
But there is a trade-off:
Your files are stored on someone else's infrastructure.
That means you are trusting the provider, its servers, its rules, its country, and its legal obligations.
Large cloud providers receive government requests for user data. This is not theoretical; companies like Apple and Google publish transparency reports about these requests.
For U.S.-based providers, laws such as the CLOUD Act can also matter. Under legal process, U.S. providers may be required to provide data they control, even if that data is stored outside the United States.
That does not mean your files are unsafe.
But it does mean they are not fully under your control.
For private documents, business files, archives, source code, or client material, I prefer another model:
Use storage you control.
Many people already have that storage: a VPS, shared hosting, a NAS, or their own server.
The missing part is making it easy to use.
For this, I use myCloudDrive.
myCloudDrive turns an FTP server into a virtual macOS drive. So instead of uploading files to another cloud storage provider, I can use storage I already control.
The idea is simple:
Your server. Your files. Your drive.
Cloud storage is convenient. But for files where privacy and control matter, I prefer owning the storage layer.
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