Run your own private cloud
3 min read
In a world where storage prices are going up because of the AI demand, surveillance is slowly expanding, the world is becoming less free, democratic backsliding is occurring, things are becoming less private, and AI is entering everyone’s lives, I think digital sovereignty and privacy are more important than ever.
Modern tracking technologies can connect our activity across devices and apps. Much of this tracking happens out of sight, while the commercial value of personal data gives companies strong incentives to collect more of it.
Consent on the web is often undermined by confusing interfaces and disclosures buried in lengthy privacy policies and terms of service. As EFF explains, browser fingerprinting allows tracking beyond cookies, so clearing cookies alone does not necessarily prevent it.
The consequences extend beyond commercial use. Data collected by companies can reveal intimate details about individuals and become available to intelligence agencies, as this declassified US intelligence report acknowledges. Information gathered for advertising can ultimately become material for government surveillance.
Recent investigations show that even hardware you own can collect data about you. Gamers Nexus raised concerns about LG smart TVs, including viewing tracking and how voice features handle audio. The Verge reports that automatic content recognition, which identifies what you watch, is common across smart TV brands. The LG investigation includes more serious claims, but some remain disputed or depend on researchers having gained privileged access to the TV. Smart TVs are outside the scope of this article, yet they illustrate a broader problem: data collection can be built into devices people believe they control. You can find many more examples of this problem in EFF’s website.
Can we even do something about this?
We cannot avoid every service that collects data. Banking, communication, work, and daily life often depend on systems we do not control. But we can reduce how much information we share and choose where our most personal data is stored. Running a private cloud is one way to take back control of files, photos, and backups. It will not stop every form of tracking, but it can reduce how much of our digital lives we entrust to a single company.
You don’t need a crazy setup. Even an old computer will do fine. If you want redundancy, plan for four drives in RAIDZ2 so two drives can fail without taking your data with them. But RAID isn’t a backup: all four drives are still in one machine. The 3-2-1 rule is to keep three copies of your important data, on two different kinds of storage, with one copy somewhere else.
A good place to start is by setting up TrueNAS and slowly replacing the services you use with self-hosted alternatives. Immich can handle your photos, Nextcloud your files, and Navidrome or Jellyfin your music and videos. You don’t have to move everything at once. Start with one service and make sure your backups work before moving more. The tradeoff is that you’re now responsible for updates, security, and fixing things when they break.