Hello,
Like many people, I have many files (text, pictures, …) on my Android smartphone; Files I don’t want to lose. I could use Google Drive or similar software to have a copy of files in the cloud in case my smartphone is destroyed/lost/stolen, but files would be stored unencrypted server-side, so we don’t want that. I’m looking for an E2EE solution to have a copy of the files in my phone on some cloud.
A common situation : you are on holidays, you only have your phone with you (no computer…). Near the end of the holidays, you break/lose your phone (or your backpack with your computer and phone is stolen). If your files are not synced/backed up in some cloud, you lose all your more recent files (including holidays pictures).
I searched for solutions, but found nothing good so far.
- I considered Cryptomator for Android, but after 5,5 years the Document Provider API is still not implemented, despite the promises of the developers (they didn’t bother with a roadmap for 2023 for Cryptomator, it’s half abandoned with only cosmetic/bug fixes updates). There is no support for automation tools neither. So it does not seem appropriate.
- Maybe a local encryption app, combined with a standard cloud sync app, could do the trick, but I have not found an efficient solution yet.
I’d like to know how you solved this problem for yourselves, or if you have any advice. It seems to be a common use case, I think it can be useful to many people.
note: I use Syncthing on a day-to-day basis to sync my files between my devices, but it won’t help in these situations.
(I hope my English is not too bad, it’s not my mother tongue, sorry)
I use SyncThing to get the backups I want over to my main computer, then rclone to encrypt them onto remote cloud storage. In my case, I use S3, but rclone supports heaps of cloud remotes.
+1 for SyncThing. The most cloud-less cloud one could wish to have.
OP could setup remotes in a way that they can be synced via VPN which could probably fit the “holiday” usecase. It wouldn’t be a “everything is up in the cloud in realtime” kind of situation, but syncing up in the evening when you are out of home for a couple of days should be painless enough.
Yeah, absolutely. I forgot to mention that I use Wireguard and Tasker so that, when I’m travelling, only the backups I want to sync over 5G/remotely are sync’d over. The rest can usually wait until I get back home.
- Syncthing syncs a parent backups folder on my phone
- Wireguard keeps me permanently tethered to the home network (for Pi-hole and searxng private search engine, which goes out via Mullvad VPN @ home)
- Tasker keeps the large and/or unnecessary backup files out of Syncthing’s view when I’m not on the home network
Thank you, it seems a good setup.
Can you explain how you did this securely ? Is the box with Pi-Hole / searxng / syncthing insiste a DMZ ?
I’m woried of a potential breach of my home network.
If ports are open to the internet, and I miss an update (or if there is a 0 day) on the serveur box at home, it could be hacked, data stolen, and be used as a jump box to attack the rest if the network; so I want to be sure to do it right, it scares me a little !
Ente for photos, Skiff Drive for files.
Both E2EE.
If price isn’t a issue, Tresorit would be my recommendation. Automatic photo upload, integration with native file explorer, pretty good speed, E2EE, audited and fantastic reputation.
I had the same problem, I have switched over to ProtonDrive and Iike it so much. If you want give ProtonDrive a try.
I don’t really trust the server side encryption, admins can probably access files. I would sleep better with E2EE :-) But it can be right for some people, thanks for mentioning it.
