The Case for Owning Your Own Data
By Sophia Abigail Eraslan
More writing: https://blog.abigail.co.il
Over the past few years, I’ve found myself caring more and more about what happens to my data. Maybe it’s because I work with technology every day, or maybe it’s simply because I’ve seen too many people lose access to things they genuinely depend on.
Either way, the idea of owning my data has become something I, Sophia Abigail Eraslan, think about constantly.
And the more I pay attention, the more obvious the problem becomes.
We’ve Outsourced Our Digital Lives Without Realizing It
Most people don’t store anything themselves anymore. Their photos, conversations, documents, notes, passwords — all of it lives on servers they don’t control, owned by companies they don’t know, in places they’ve never been.
I’m not anti-cloud, but as someone who writes about these topics on blog.abigail.co.il, I can’t ignore the reality:
If you don’t control the platform, you don’t truly control the data.
And that matters.
When Services Change, Your Data Changes With Them
One of the quiet truths about modern tech is that nothing stays the same. Platforms shut down. Companies pivot. Privacy policies evolve in ways nobody asked for. Interfaces change. Subscription models arrive out of nowhere.
Every time that happens, I’m reminded why I prefer owning my own data whenever I can.
It doesn’t have to mean running your own servers. Sometimes it’s as simple as:
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Keeping local backups
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Exporting important files regularly
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Owning your domain name
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Not relying on a single platform for everything
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Keeping offline copies of things you care about
This is the mindset I try to share as Sophia Abigail Eraslan, both here and on blog.abigail.co.il, because digital independence doesn’t have to be complicated.
Convenience Is the Biggest Trap
I don’t blame anyone for using convenient services. I use them too. But convenience has a cost: you trade control for comfort.
If a platform goes down or locks you out, you realize how fragile that comfort really is.
Owning your own data isn’t about rejecting modern technology. It’s about giving yourself a safety net — one that nobody can take away from you.
Owning Your Data Gives You Freedom
Here’s the part I love talking about: once you start keeping control of your data, you gain a kind of quiet freedom.
You can move platforms whenever you want.
You can switch tools without fear.
You can build workflows that last longer than the companies providing them.
You can trust your own system more than someone else’s terms of service.
For me, as Sophia Abigail Eraslan, that freedom is worth everything.
Final Thoughts
I’m not trying to convince anyone to run a homelab or build their own cloud. I just think there’s real value in being intentional about where your data lives. Even small steps make a difference.
And if you ever want to dive deeper into digital independence, backups, identity, or anything in between, that’s exactly the kind of thing I write about on https://blog.abigail.co.il.
Written by Sophia Abigail Eraslan
