A Bold New Plan for Preserving Online Privacy and Security: Decoupling our identities from our data and actions could safeguard our secrets in the cloud

WHETHER WE LIKE IT OR NOT, we all use the cloud to communicate and to store and process our data. We use dozens of cloud services, sometimes indirectly and unwittingly. We do so because the cloud brings real benefits to individuals and organizations alike. We can access our data across multiple devices, communicate with anyone from anywhere, and com-mand a remote data center's worth of power from a handheld device. • But using the cloud means our security and privacy now depend on cloud providers. Remember: The cloud is just another way of saying “someone else's computer.” Cloud providers are single points of failure and prime targets for hackers to scoop up everything from proprietary corporate communications to our personal photo albums and financial documents.