Is cloud database safe for poker?

XXPXXP

XXPXXP

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Everyone knows what's happening recently about the hacked photos.

just want to know,

Wait, Since HM2, PT4 both have cloud database system.
is it safe for store your poker hand history, notes or whatever?

PS: I cleared my HM2 cloud database, since feel that, it is better to record it in a blank disk as back up...:D
 
PokerTracker

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Everyone knows what's happening recently about the hacked photos.

It was discovered that the hacking occurred due to the celebrities using insecure passwords and personal information commonly known by fans such as their dog's names, their maiden name, their birth dates, or their mother's name. If you have this information and also an email address, it is possible for a hacker to fraudulently change the password on the account used for iCloud, and then capture the photos stored. This problem occurred due to user error, it was not caused by Apple's iCloud. That was a commonly misreported assumption, the hackers did not attack iCloud - they actually attacked the email addresses for each of the celebrities. Email has been in the "cloud" since the day email started in 1993, it is a server side service that feeds your emails to you. Most email clients use the IMAP protocol which stores the emails on your server, while creating a local copy of that email. Modern email servers such as GMAIL do not ever delete anything, this means your data will be stored in the cloud forever (in theory).

Since HM2, PT4 both have cloud database system.
is it safe for store your poker hand history, notes or whatever?

1) HM2's cloud solution is still in alpha form, nobody has seen the final version of their cloud solution yet.
2) PT4's cloud solution is coming, but it does not yet exist. There is no alpha available.
3) The word cloud is often misunderstood. Cloud really means "server storage", those who opt to use our cloud solutions will have the ability to keep storage of data on our servers. This storage is as secure as your email server, iCloud, dropbox, or any of the other server side storage solutions available. The risks you face are far greater if a hacker gets access to your emails than if a hacker gets access your poker hands... and of course the risks are even higher if a hacker gets access to your computer where he/she could potentially steal all of your data including financial info and hands, as well as watch you play to attempt to steal from you by cheating. All in all, the risks of cloud storage of hand histories are pretty low compared to the other hacking risks out there.

The fact of the matter is, if you are online, then at least some of your data is already stored on servers. This is the future of computing, for example our company has migrated from Microsoft Office to Google Docs - which are also in "the cloud".
 
zEric7x

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The main advantage to me that it is a way to back up your hand history in case something happens to your computer. I would hate to lose a huge history of hands.
 
HoldemManager

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The main advantage to me that it is a way to back up your hand history in case something happens to your computer. I would hate to lose a huge history of hands.

Having a cloud database does not mean you shouldn't still backup the original hand history files like you used to. The original hands that are imported to the cloud are still stored on your local drive just like with PT4/HM2. I have been using HM Cloud as my main database/HUD application for nearly a year now and I still store all my original hand histories on my drive, sync it to dropbox, and use allway sync a few times per month to backup those hands and all my other personal data to a NAS drive.


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PokerTracker

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1) HM2's cloud solution is still in alpha form, nobody has seen the final version of their cloud solution yet.

Correction: It is in Beta, not Alpha. Sorry for the confusion.
 
Gorak

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I have HM2 and PT4. I don't use HM2 anymore because it bugs my computer big time. PT4 works like a charm.

I don't trust the cloud. Besides I think they will eventually put a monthly fee to store our databases.

I hope we always have the choice of keeping our databases on a local hard drive.
 
PokerTracker

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I think they will eventually put a monthly fee to store our databases.

I hope we always have the choice of keeping our databases on a local hard drive.

HM Cloud, and the eventual PokerTracker cloud solution which is not yet ready, will be options to choose from, just as PokerTracker and Holdem Manager are options to choose from. Development of Hold'em Manager and PokerTracker will continue as planned, the cloud options do not change anything - they are only options.

Yes, of course there will someday be a fee to use our cloud services once they leave beta, but how we will price it has yet to be determined. It is far too soon to assume anything about Cloud pricing, the development of the product is not done yet and we haven't made any decisions - it's all still to be determined. Its best to wait and see what we have in store for you before you make any decisions or judgments; its too early for that.

I don't trust the cloud.
If you distrust "the cloud" then you should also distrust this forum, your email server, and any other server based application. Might as well stop using the internet, because the risk vs reward ratio is exactly the same... "Cloud" is a marketing buzzword for server based processing and storage, it is not a new technology, these functions have existed since the start of the internet. Please read our prior post above for additional details on this topic, we hope to clear up the misunderstanding this buzzword sometimes brings... computer OSes have moved to storing data in the cloud, what we intend to do is provide this same type of functionality - but instead provide it as an option.
 
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Personally, I would not use a "cloud" application. I would not store my poker stats in the "cloud".
First because you never know how secure it is. The recent affair with famous actors personal data hacked on icloud is one good proof. look, apple is sitting on tens of billions of cash, if they are not able to provide a secure enough cloud solution, then who can ?
I am not saying HEM folks are not taking cloud storage security seriously. I'm sure they do.
If you care about you personal poker stats, you could assume it is not more secure when stored on the could, whatever server it is.
Second, you don't know how these data could be used in the future. you could assume the millions of hands collected every day on a server would not stay lying on a server. Any serious poker player would be excited to have access to this huge database as it would give him a serious edge.
So you could assume that this huge collection of hands could be accessed to by either a hacker or sold to some people willing to pay enough $.
The thousands of hours you spent playing and recording data on your hard disk is what gives you an edge over other players. You have let's say a personal database of 1000 hands on player abc.
The PT4 guy above said it himself : "Yes, of course there will someday be a fee to use our cloud services". Does it mean there will be one day an offer where you pay a certain amount and in return you have access to this collection of hands ?
so what, those who have money are rewarded, more than those who work hard playing ?
So i believe your personal data should remain in your own hard disk.
Just like your personal data your store on a 100GB "free" cloud account. server storage, electricity, maintenance etc... all this has a cost, and noone would store your personal data really for free. They have to make money from your personal data in one way or another. It is well known that these data are sold to marketing companies. i don't know how it is mentioned in the T&C, i never back data up on the cloud.
IMO, your personal data, whatever data they are are better off saved on your personal hard disk at home. These days, 1TB disk costs maybe $100, which is affordable and which allows you to store more than what you really need to.
 
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PokerTracker

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Personally, I would not use a "cloud" application. I would not store my poker stats in the "cloud".
First because you never know how secure it is. The recent affair with famous actors personal data hacked on icloud is one good proof. look, apple is sitting on tens of billions of cash, if they are not able to provide a secure enough cloud solution, then who can ?
I am not saying HEM folks are not taking cloud storage security seriously. I'm sure they do.
If you care about you personal poker stats, you could assume it is not more secure when stored on the could, whatever server it is.
Second, you don't know how these data could be used in the future. you could assume the millions of hands collected every day on a server would not stay lying on a server. Any serious poker player would be excited to have access to this huge database as it would give him a serious edge.
So you could assume that this huge collection of hands could be accessed to by either a hacker or sold to some people willing to pay enough $.
The thousands of hours you spent playing and recording data on your hard disk is what gives you an edge over other players. You have let's say a personal database of 1000 hands on player abc.
The PT4 guy above said it himself : "Yes, of course there will someday be a fee to use our cloud services". Does it mean there will be one day an offer where you pay a certain amount and in return you have access to this collection of hands ?
so what, those who have money are rewarded, more than those who work hard playing ?
So i believe your personal data should remain in your own hard disk.
Just like your personal data your store on a 100GB "free" cloud account. server storage, electricity, maintenance etc... all this has a cost, and noone would store your personal data really for free. They have to make money from your personal data in one way or another. It is well known that these data are sold to marketing companies. i don't know how it is mentioned in the T&C, i never back data up on the cloud.
IMO, your personal data, whatever data they are are better off saved on your personal hard disk at home. These days, 1TB disk costs maybe $100, which is affordable and which allows you to store more than what you really need to.

You appear to misunderstand what "the cloud" really is.

1) If you're worried about your data being stolen, then you should never use email. Email is a cloud service. all of your communications are being stored on your ISP/email hosts servers, and then you have the option to download this data to your desktop - BUT the data still resides in the server's storage which is backed up on a regular basis.

Email is the greatest risk, the protocol is insecure and easy to spoof. The recent iCloud hacking scandal was poorly named, the hack occurred by gaining access to the user's email accounts, the hackers never actually hacked iCloud as some in the press claimed.

2) Our cloud services will allow you to store backups of your data on your local computer.

3) Our cloud service is only partially storage, the primary functionality of this service is the ability to process the data on our servers faster than you can on your local computer, and to be able to run reports on any platform that supports just a web browser.

Keep in mind our cloud services will be an optional solution, you do not have to use them if you don't want to - but if you use multiple computers, travel a lot, like to run reports away from your desktop, have an older computer, or wish to have access to your data anywhere - then our cloud services might someday be the right solution for your needs. As with all products we provide, it is a choice if you wish to use it or not - its purely optional. But if you really think cloud services are bad yet you still use Email and forums such as this one... then you are obviously missing the bigger picture.
 
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