Linkup Closes Down Online Backup Service

Some 20,000 customers of the backup service known as The Linkup lost all of their stuff when the service recently closed. It appears that the company was having problems maintaining users data coupled with a lot of finger pointing. But what is known is that on August 8, 2008 Linkup was to delete all of the data on their servers. They also stated in a blog post that all user information, i.e. user names, password, billing info. and so forth would also be deleted. But there is one statement I read that raised my eyebrow:

The Linkup is no longer accepting any uploads or new accounts, and no further charges will be made to your credit card. After August 8, your account will not be accessible, all your personal information will be deleted (username, billing information, history, etc), and your files will be deleted. Please download any files that are in your account that you wish to keep before Friday, August 8 at 5:00 pm PDT.

This part of the statement ‘billing information’. This would indicate that The Linkup has credit card or other payment information on their servers. Is deleting the information enough? What happens to the hardware after the company is done with it? Is their anyway to guarantee that these 20,000 people will not have their information available at a later time?

I know, I know. There is the matter of trust. But how trustful would you be of a company that is going out of business?

I know I would feel better if the word ‘destroyed’ was used in lieu of ‘deleted‘.

Comments welcome.

Source.

The Linkup Blog