Political

Essential campaigning tools: Backblaze online backup service

I ran a series in Liberal Democrat Newswire highlighting essential online tools for campaigners. Given their continuing relevance, here’s an updated version of what I had to say about Backblaze in LDN #77:

When I first heard about it, I thought the Backblaze online backup service was just too good to be true. An online backup service which quietly backs up all of your computer all the time, to whatever volume of data and a mere $6 a month? But that indeed is just what it is.

The Backblaze software is a snip to install and runs unobtrusively in the background. This ensures you never too long between you doing something and it being safely backed up online. You can keep on piling up the data, even huge numbers of photos and audio books, and it still is only $6 a month. This takes all the hassle out of having to remember to do backups – and the risk out of not doing them.

Then if something does go wrong – whether catastrophic disk failure or a simple mistaken deletion – it is super-easy to restore your data. It is a rare case of product that is even better than it says it is, and it has twice saved my (vegetarian) bacon. So I’ve become a bit of a zealot for its wondrousness.

You won’t end up like the down on their luck person slumped in a back alley in a cartoon on the wall of an office I used to work in. He mutters: “… and then I discovered my backups weren’t up to date”.

Get Backblaze and keep your data safe. You can even try it for free to see how it works.*

* Affiliate link which generates a commission from sales.

6 responses to “Essential campaigning tools: Backblaze online backup service”

  1. “When I first heard about it, I thought the Backblaze online backup service was just too good to be true.”

    And that usually means it is too good to be true…!

    • Yup, I had my scepticism filters on full initially for that reason! But this time a reminder that sometimes services really are both very good and not very pricey.

  2. What about the forthcoming draconian changes in data protection law? I know from a conference training session this year that not all US sites will be compliant, eg Mailchimp. Thinking of password protected files for instance.

    • The changes won’t in themselves make it illegal to backup data or to backup data to servers in another, non-European country. There will be some changes some people have to make to keep such backing up compliant, though. (By the way, it’s possible to use MailChimp in ways that are compliant with GDPR, as for example with my own set-up with the email lists which I run which use MailChimp.)

      • Did you publish anything about how to keep the data compliant when using backblaze?
        Also have you done something similar about whether an individuals personal computer which is used for some lib dem work and perhaps temporarily holds electoral role data whilst processing of marked registers need to be registered officially with Data Registrar{?}

      • Hi Steve – good point about GDPR etc. Using Backblaze involves storing data on their servers outside the UK/EU, so you need to have a data protection setup which permits this. Beyond that, using Backblaze actually helps with data protection requirements, as having a good and secure backup service means it’s easier to justify that you’re meeting the legal requirements to look after data properly and securely. For Lib Dem use specifically, it’s best to contact the party’s compliance team so you can get the latest official answer.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

All comments and data you submit with them will be handled in line with the privacy and moderation policies.