Ask HN: Thoughts on Liability and Cloud Computing

As we move towards an industry which is wholly dependent on cloud computing, how can we be sure that our data is safe when we depend on a third party?

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A bit of context;

I've recently experienced difficulties with a well respected VPS hosting provider and their backup service. The backups provided failed me (and were incorrectly indicated as successful), which left me in a very compromising position.

After reviewing their 'Terms of Service', I realised that liability in such cases rests with the client. This includes cases where the company's negligence has caused loss or damage.

As a result, I decided to look into using an independent backup service - and discovered similarly iron-clad liability clause in each subsequent company's own ToS.