John, the proverbial "everyman",
has files on his computer that he would like to keep from prying
eyes. In his case, it's personal finances, letters, and health
records. It's sort of like the medicine cabinet in the bathroom.
-- There is nothing there that is all that important, but one
wishes Aunt Maude wouldn't browse for 5 minutes noticing every
detail. It's just not her business.
John has heard that files on his computer
may be vulnerable if he uses an always-on-line Internet service
provider. The cable modem installer showed him the settings so
that outsiders cannot browse his files or use his printer. But
he's not sure that's enough. Hackers are getting pretty smart.
What if advertisers and insurance companies want to data-mine
his computer? Not everybody out there has a conscience, particularly
if they can make money selling any data they can get about John.
The casual home computer user may store the
privacy protected archive files right on the hard disk. In the
event that Aunt Maude is a computer sophisticate, John should
back up the reconstitution file in a couple of places (portable
USB hard drive, Internet storage, whatever) and remove it from
the hard disk. Recovering the files amounts to getting back the
reconstitution file and clicking a few selections... convenient,
fast, safe from prying eyes.
