[tahoe-dev] the only Cloud storage system which is privacy-compatible -- a diagram

[Zooko Wilcox-O'Hearn]

Folks:

I updated http://allmydata.org/source/tahoe/trunk/docs/about.html to  
include the diagram that shows how Tahoe-LAFS is privacy-compatible.   
The diagram uses red/black coloration to show which components have  
the ability to read the contents or change the contents of files.

The point of this diagram is that the storage servers are black, not  
red.  The user does not rely on the storage servers for  
confidentiality or integrity.  That's why Tahoe is the only "Cloud  
storage" system for people who want to delegate the *storage* of  
their data to remote servers (possibly owned and operated by someone  
else) without thereby delegating responsibility for the  
*confidentiality* or *integrity* of their data.

I think this is a big issue and is likely to become bigger over time  
as "Cloud" computing becomes more widespread.  It is a bit too much  
to hope that Tahoe will become the universal solution -- after all  
we're a tiny, volunteer-driven open source project and Tahoe has only  
a few features -- just barely enough to do what we currently need it  
to do.  The other Cloud computing systems out there are being  
developed by billion-dollar corporations and major governments.   
However, I do hope that the existence of Tahoe and the fact that it  
really is deployed and used will convince people that secure, privacy- 
compatible Cloud storage *is* possible.  It is an option.

Regards,

Zooko