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Confidential User Information - whom do you trust?

by mywebwork
3 replies
Aloha

I'm building an online application in which users will be (among other things) working with and saving their personal business data. This data ends up being stored in an encrypted database on my host server. The application will use a secure (https) connection and will require users to use strong passwords.

Question - do you think people will be reluctant to store personal data on a strangers server? Offhand you would think that they would be resistant to the idea, yet millions of users maintain e-mail accounts at Hotmail, Gmail and AOL where they effectively store very personal data on servers owned by giant companies. Online dating sites also hold a lot of very personal information, yet this doesn't seem to bother their customers.

I'd like opinions, and any ideas as to how to put potential subscribes at ease by insuring them that their data is safe. One idea I had was to let users create their own encryption key and store it on their workstation or on a USB thumb drive. That way they could be assured that no one (including me) could read their data. It does, however, make using the product a bit more cumbersome.

Thanks for any and all comments!

Bill
#confidential #information #trust #user
  • Profile picture of the author Quang Van
    Yes, I think privacy would be a concern, especially if it's business data. Companies hold on to those safely.

    Fortune 500 companies even hire special IT guys, and have IT departments to secure employees desktops/laptops etc...

    My question is, are their similar companies?

    I know there are "online harddrive" companies for consumer use.

    If this is a "new idea" and hasn't been "proven in the marketplace", I'd abandon it, there are easier ways to have a successful business.
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  • Profile picture of the author MemberWing
    I think simplicity of solution will bring more sales and more satisfied customers than technically superior but more expensive and cumbersome arrangement.
    SSL and normal passwords will do. Paypal doesn't even force you to change them often and no one really know how "secure" our personal, credit and financial data with them.

    Most people care about ease of doing financial transactions on the web.

    Gleb
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  • Profile picture of the author artwebster
    Hi, Bill,

    It is very obvious that, for most people, the real question is "Do the benefits out weigh the risks?"

    When you consider how many people use Sky Drive (25megas) to store private information in huge quantities, the better you can 'sizzle' it, the greater will be your success.
    Signature

    You might not like what I say - but I believe it.
    Build it, make money, then build some more
    Some old school smarts would help - and here's to Rob Toth for his help. Bloody good stuff, even the freebies!

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