You're defining "secure" as meaning "confidential," which is understandable though not entirely accurate. At its simplest and most abstract, information security also includes integrity and availability. I'm oversimplifying it, but hopefully you see where I'm getting at.

integrity i.e. ensuring that data received, changed, and removed is exactly as expected and accurate per the requirements for the data over the lifecycle of the data.

availability i.e. ensuring that the data is accessible/usable for the use cases intended.

That said, confidentiality could also be relevant for a system of truth such as this one. There may well be certain data elements that one might want to restrict e.g. only to people who share genetic history with an ancestor. (as an example)

---

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Information_security#Key_conce...

if it helps.

---

edit2: security (confidentiality) in permanent.org elaborated: https://www.permanent.org/digital-archives/services/privacy-...

Confidentiality is most of what people are thinking about when they consider the security of cloud storage systems.

Admittedly they've done a poor job talking about it on their front page.

But for what its worth, they talk about security of data in accessible (albeit lacking) lay terms here: https://www.permanent.org/digital-archives/services/privacy-...

Not known to me yet is whether these claims have been validated.

Well, that's just a bunch of bullshit. Your everyday IT user (including me who has worked in the business for a LONG time) doesn't see that difference. No one cares if it's semantically correct when most people think it means something completely different.

My take: As long as they're not crystal clear with what they mean by that, I don't trust them. And to be honest, even then I probably wouldn't trust them with some confidential data. The very first step would be to open up about each point OP mentioned in his post, and we can go from there.

> Well, that's just a bunch of bullshit. Your everyday IT user (including me who has worked in the business for a LONG time) doesn't see that difference.

Regrettably, you're right. That's why we're employed.

Sometimes I really don't wish that were the reason. Sometimes I feel like the money isn't worth it. But then I get my head out of my ass, because really, what else would I do that pays well? But I reserve the right to gripe about users now and then, keeps me sane. :)

> You're defining "secure" as meaning "confidential," which is understandable though not entirely accurate.

I'm not defining it, if you re-read my post you'll see that I'm asking how they define it.