_A PART OF ANY filmmaker’s data protection plan should include clear guidance on backups of your mobile phone data —
• How frequently you should back up
• How to prioritize the files to back up when time is scarce
• Trustworthy backup platforms and tools
When building a secure backup practice, you’ll want to decide whether to keep your backups online with a cloud storage provider, or offline on another device you trust. Use risk assessment to determine what’s best for you.
Online backups with cloud storage providers like Apple’s iCloud and Google’s Google Drive make automatic sync and restore convenient. By sharing your data with a third party like Apple or Google, however, you open up the possibility for unauthorized access to your mobile backups by legal request or someone hacking into your account.
If keeping your mobile data private from third parties is your priority, consider backing up to a computer you trust.
iPhone users: Make encrypted backups through Finder
STEP 1
Encrypt your backups!
The process is simple. Check the box in the Finder menu to encrypt your backup, and use a unique and complex passphrase.
STEP 2
Store your encryption passphrase somewhere secure, like a password manager.
Android users: Back up your files and media content to a trusted device
Note that when backing up through a USB cable on Android, you won’t be able to back up the device settings, nor your app data. This makes restoring to a new phone less convenient, but if a cloud backup service doesn’t meet your privacy and security needs, this might be a reasonable tradeoff for your situation.
STEP 1
You can back up files (such as documents, pictures, and videos) stored in your phone by connecting it to a computer you trust, typically with the phone’s USB cable.
You may have to change the mobile device’s USB preferences via Settings > USB Preferences > Use USB for File Transfer.
STEP 2
Once connected, you can access your mobile phone’s content from your computer’s file explorer.
See the “Drag and drop content..” section of this guide for instructions and troubleshooting advice.
STEP 4
Copy the content you want to back up, and store it somewhere safe on your computer, or, better yet, an encrypted external storage device.