Mark has almost fifteen years of his life on his laptop and his phone: holiday photos, videos of family celebrations, scans of important documents, tax returns, the tenancy agreement, a few work projects still in progress. Some of it goes to the cloud on its own — online storage space provided by an outside service — some of it lives only on the computer, and some of it sits on an external drive he hasn’t plugged in for a couple of years.
“It’s all there anyway” is a reasonable thing to say, as long as the device keeps working. Nobody chooses to lose their files: it happens because of a fault, a fall, a theft, a wrong click, and sometimes a piece of malicious software. So the useful question isn’t “will it happen to me?” but a different one: if tomorrow those files could no longer be reached, or were no longer what they used to be, what would be affected?
This post answers it by looking at the three aspects by which the security of any information is measured: that it stays available, that it stays correct, and that it stays private. They are the practical translation of three technical words — availability, integrity, confidentiality — and they help you see that losing personal files is about more than “I can’t find my photos any more”.
It expands on the recommendation about backing up photos and videos: a copy of your files kept somewhere other than the device, made regularly, protected and checked. A backup, in one line, is exactly that: a safety copy you can start again from if the original is lost.
Three questions to measure an impact
Before getting into the details, it’s worth having the right questions at hand. They apply to every folder, every phone and every drive you use:
- What could I never get back if this device switched off for good? — this is the availability question.
- How would I notice if these files were damaged or changed? — this is the integrity question.
- Who could read the copies I’ve made? — this is the confidentiality question.
With this topic the order matters: for personal data the most obvious impact is availability, because the loss can be permanent. Applied to a folder of files downloaded from the internet, the three questions produce a modest answer. Applied to family photos or the only copy of a signed document, the answer changes a great deal. That is where the recommendation makes sense: the impact isn’t measured on what the device is worth, but on what exists only inside it.
1. Availability: you can find your files when you need them
Availability is the guarantee of being able to use your data at the moment you need it. For personal files it’s the most direct impact, because it shows up as a gap: the folder has gone, the phone won’t turn on, the drive isn’t recognised.
A practical example
One morning Mark opens his laptop and it won’t start. The internal drive has stopped working. The photos from the last three years were only there: the external drive had last been updated long before.
What the incident looks like
Drives and memory cards have a limited lifespan; phones get dropped, get wet, get lost or get stolen. Alongside faults there is human error: a folder deleted by mistake, a memory card formatted in a hurry, a phone reset without saving the chats first. Professional data recovery services exist, but they are expensive and cannot guarantee a result. Some things — the video of a birthday, someone’s voice in a voice message — simply can’t be made again.
What to watch for
- you can’t remember when your last backup was, or you find it stopped months ago;
- your phone warns that your cloud storage is full and automatic backups have been paused;
- the computer becomes slow, makes unusual noises or reports disk errors;
- some important folders, such as chats or downloaded documents, aren’t included in any copy.
What to do
Keep at least one copy of your important files away from the device you use every day, and set it up so that it updates by itself. Every so often, try reopening a file from the copy: it’s the only way to know the backup really works. How to organise your copies is explained in the 3-2-1 backup rule.
2. Integrity: your files stay as they were
Integrity is the guarantee that data isn’t altered, damaged or replaced. Here the impact is more subtle: the files are still there, but they can’t be used, or they’re no longer the ones you remember.
A practical example
Mark finds the photos from a trip on an old memory card. Some open, some show only half the picture, others won’t open at all. The files are corrupted: the data has been damaged and the program can no longer read it.
What the incident looks like
The most serious case is ransomware, a type of malicious software that encrypts your files — makes them unreadable with a key only the attacker holds — and then demands a payment to give them back. How it works and how it shows itself is explained in the post on ransomware and personal files. Then there’s a mechanism that surprises many people: syncing, the feature that keeps a folder identical on your computer and in the cloud. It’s convenient, but it copies everything, mistakes included. If a file is deleted, damaged or encrypted on the computer, the same compromised version reaches the online copy within moments. The same goes for a backup drive left plugged in all the time: whatever hits the computer can reach it too.
What to watch for
- files that won’t open, or only open partly;
- file name extensions (the letters after the dot) that suddenly change, or names you don’t recognise;
- lots of files showing as modified at the same moment, including in the cloud;
- a message demanding payment to “return” your documents.
What to do
Keep at least one copy unplugged from the computer when you’re not using it and, where possible, choose a service that keeps previous versions of your files, so you can go back to how they were before the problem. If a payment demand appears, don’t act in a rush: disconnect the device from the network and start from the clean copy. Keeping your system updated closes many of the ways in: that is the point of the recommendation on keeping your software up to date.
3. Confidentiality: your copies stay yours
Confidentiality is the guarantee that information can be read only by those who are authorised to read it. It sounds far removed from backups, but it concerns them closely: every copy is a second place where your photos and documents exist, and it needs protecting just like the first.
A practical example
Years ago Mark lent his old external drive to a relative “to copy a film across”. The drive also held a copy of the family photos and scans of his passport and driving licence. It had no password at all.
What the incident looks like
An unprotected backup is a complete, well-organised collection of your life, ready for whoever finds it: a drive forgotten in an office drawer, an old computer sold without wiping the data, a cloud account protected by a password you also use elsewhere. With private photos, medical documents or identity documents, simply reading them is already a harm, and often nobody notices.
What to watch for
- you no longer know where your old drives, USB sticks or phones with your files are;
- the backup drive opens without asking for any password;
- your cloud account uses a password you also have on other services, or doesn’t have multi-factor authentication;
- devices you don’t recognise appear among the recent sign-ins to your cloud account.
What to do
Protect the backup with a strong password or, better still, with encryption, which makes the contents unreadable without the right key: the topic is covered in the recommendation on encrypting your personal devices. So you don’t lose that password, it helps to be storing passwords safely. On the cloud, turn on multi-factor authentication — a second check on top of the password — and choose reliable services that offer data encryption. Before selling or giving away a drive, wipe its contents.
| Aspect | What happens | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Availability | The files are gone or can’t be reached | For unique photos, videos and documents the loss can be permanent |
| Integrity | The files are there, but damaged, encrypted or overwritten | Syncing can spread the damage to the online copies too |
| Confidentiality | An unprotected copy is read by someone else | A complete backup tells the story of your whole life in one place |
One scenario that brings them together
Mark keeps his photos on his laptop, with a folder synced to the cloud. His “backup” is an external drive bought years ago, with no password, which he sometimes lends out.
One day the laptop’s drive starts to fail. Before it stops completely it damages some of the files, and syncing carries the damaged versions up to the cloud (integrity). A few days later the laptop won’t turn on: the photos from recent years can no longer be reached, because the external drive had last been updated long before (availability). When Mark finds it again, he realises that drive spent months in other people’s hands, with his photos and documents readable by anyone (confidentiality).
Three different impacts, a single cause: copies that existed, but weren’t organised, kept up to date or protected.
The impacts that show up later
Not every effect appears right away. Some emerge over time, which is why “I’ve never lost anything so far” isn’t a reliable check.
- The backup that quietly stops. An automatic copy can stop because storage is full, a password has changed or an update has got in the way, with no obvious warning. How to spot it is explained in the signs your backup is not working.
- Files that deteriorate over time. Old media and forgotten memory cards can become damaged without anyone opening them. You only find out on the day you need them.
- Forgotten copies. Old phones, drives and abandoned cloud accounts go on holding your data long after you’ve stopped thinking about them, and they don’t receive updated protection.
- Value you discover later. A receipt, a contract or a photo can become important years afterwards: for paperwork, for a memory, for someone who is no longer here. You can’t know in advance which file will matter.
This isn’t a reason to live on high alert. It’s the reason protection has to be preventive: a regular, automatic, checked and protected backup reduces all four of these effects, including the ones you’ll never see.
Not all data weighs the same
The impact depends on what the files contain and on how hard they would be to rebuild.
| Type of data | Main impact | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Family photos and videos | Availability | They’re irreplaceable: nobody can take them again |
| Identity documents and scans | Confidentiality | They can help someone pretend to be you |
| Tax documents, contracts, receipts | Availability and integrity | They may be needed years later, and must be intact |
| Medical documents | Confidentiality and availability | Sensitive data, often hard to request again |
| Work in progress, studies, projects | Integrity and availability | The latest versions matter, not the ones from months ago |
| Chats and voice messages | Availability | They are often left out of automatic backups |
| Old, forgotten archives | Low at first sight, high if unprotected | They’re the copies nobody checks any more |
The last row is the one that counts: the highest risk almost never comes from the files you think about every day.
Why “almost safe” copies matter too
Having any copy at all is better than nothing, but some common habits leave at least one of the three impacts uncovered.
| Situation | Why it’s still risky |
|---|---|
| Only a folder synced to the cloud | Deletions, damage and encryption spread to the online copy too |
| Backup drive always plugged into the computer | A power surge or ransomware can hit both at once |
| The only copy kept in the same place as the computer | Theft, fire or flooding affect the original and the copy together |
| A backup that has never been tested | You discover it doesn’t work just when you need it |
| Backup drive with no password | Anyone who finds or borrows it can read everything |
| Cloud account with a reused password | The privacy of your photos depends on the security of another service |
There’s no need to fix everything in one day: every row you sort out reduces one impact. To work out which option suits your habits, see the comparison of cloud or external drive backup.
How this connects to the Cyber Welfare Framework
| Pillar | What this content contributes |
|---|---|
| Awareness | Recognising that losing personal files isn’t only about empty space, but also about damaged files and copies others can read |
| Skills | Being able to read availability, integrity and confidentiality as three concrete questions about your own files |
| Secure Behaviour | Regularly checking the date of the last backup, testing a restore and protecting copies with a password and encryption |
Reference level: FL2 — Beginner. This is the level at which you move from “I know I should back up” to “I understand what happens if I don’t, or if I do it badly.” Awareness of the impacts is what keeps the habit steady over time. To see where you stand on your other digital habits, you can take the digital resilience self-assessment.
Summary
- Availability is about what you can no longer find: devices that fail, get lost or get stolen, files deleted by mistake.
- Integrity is about what is no longer as it was: corrupted files, files encrypted by ransomware, damaged versions spread by syncing.
- Confidentiality is about who can read your copies: drives without a password, poorly protected cloud accounts, forgotten archives.
Losing personal files doesn’t produce just one impact: it can touch all three, on the device and on the very copies meant to protect it.
One thing to do today. Check three things: the date of the last backup on your phone and your computer, one file chosen at random and reopened from the copy, and whether your backup drive has a password and your cloud account has multi-factor authentication. It takes about ten minutes, and it covers all three impacts at once.
Related content
- Backing up photos and videos — the recommendation this expands on
- Lost phone without a backup — from technical impacts to concrete effects on time, money, memories and peace of mind
- Signs your backup is not working — how to notice that a copy has stopped before you need it
- 3-2-1 backup rule — how to organise your copies, in order of priority
Related resources
Short pieces from the Resources section, for anyone who wants to focus on a single aspect:
- Data Backup: The Only Protection That Works Afterwards
- Data Encryption: Already On, and Worth Understanding
Start with the first step: the Cyber Welfare Programme guides you free of charge, one recommendation at a time.
