Security of data supposedly uploaded to iCloud

Question

Level 1

4 points

Security of data supposedly uploaded to iCloud

Here's a hypothetical situation. iCloud configured for optimized storage, Desktop and Documents toggle on. Upload 200GB of photo data to iCloud. Local Hard Drive suffers catastrophic and unrecoverable failure. Question: Can I be assured that the entire 200GB uploaded to iCloud is still safely stored in iCloud or was some of that data exposed to the HD failure because of iCloud's dynamic allocation behavior? Thanks in advance for any enlightenment.

iMac (M1, 2021)

Posted on Oct 30, 2024 6:33 AM

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Answer 1

muguy

Level 10

82,147 points

Oct 30, 2024 6:45 AM in response to Jeff4530

Your data would remain in iCloud. And, it would also be on your Time Machine (or similar) backup.

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Answer 2

Jeff4530 Author

Level 1

4 points

Oct 30, 2024 7:28 AM in response to muguy

Thanks muguy. It's reassuring to know. I initially thought of iCloud as simply a remote server but iCloud's behavior is more complex than that and I'm sometimes unsure of the physical location of a given file at any particular moment.( ie local hd only, iCloud storage only? both?) I get the sense that I'm not alone in my confusion and that Apple could maybe do a better job of clarifying what can sometimes seem a bit nebulous. (no pun intended)

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Answer 3

muguy

Level 10

82,147 points

Oct 30, 2024 7:46 AM in response to Jeff4530

Everything in iCloud is also on your Mac. The only exception would be if you elect to optimize storage and space becomes needed on your Mac. Then, some files may offload to iCloud only.

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