This is part 4 of a series on digital safety and security for mental health professionals, read part 1, part 2, part 3.

Losing data can be frustrating. I've learnt the hard way that syncing data to another computer or to a cloud provider (e.g. Dropbox) is not a good way of backing up data. Corruption in a single file can spread to synced copies¹.

3-2-1 Backup Strategy

My search for backup software led me to the recommended 3-2-1 backup strategy, which effectively minimizes data loss risks:

• You should have 3 copies of your data. One original and two backups.
• Store the data in 2 different locations.
• 1 copy should be kept in an off site location.

For me this means I keep a dedicated external hard drive connected to my desktop computer for daily backups. Modern software² can encrypt and automate this process.

Every six months, I update a second external hard drive with a fresh encrypted copy of my data. This second drive is kept with someone I trust for safekeeping.

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This post is part of a challenge to write 150 blog posts of 150 words each this year. This is post 16 out of 150.