Yes, it is secure. Apple is in the business of selling hardware and their ecosystem. This is one way they ad value to their hardware. The first 5GBs are free. They charge for upgrades in that capacity. . . but it is fairly reasonable and coming down.
Apple is NOT in the business of selling your data or information like Google is. They have no interest in it except to store it for you, unseen. For Google, YOU are the product they sell. . . their primary product. For Apple, you are their valued customer, and the last thing they want is to make you angry or upset.
As for secure? Apple itself does not have access to your data, nor can it decipher it without your passcode, which you don't even keep on your devices. Apple adds a 256bit AES grade encryption on top of your own 256 bit encryption which uses your own passcode which is entangled with your device's UUID, before it is uploaded to the iCloud. When received it is anonymized, split into four chunks, mixed with other people's data, and then encrypted and stored. Only YOU can retrieve your data. Apple cannot give your data to anyone because they cannot decrypt it to give it to anyone. While they can pull chunks of data in response to a subpoena, all they can provide is encrypted gobbledegook.
If they were forced to give the authorities their own decryption key. . . they could decrypt the already encrypted stuff. . . and have MORE gobbledegook. Which without YOUR key, they cannot even tell which is your data. Do you know how long it would take to brute force decipher your passcode from all that? Even using the fastest supercomputer in the world, it would take more time than there is left before the Universe dies from heat loss. . . but it is even worse than that. Remember I told you your passcode is entangled with your devices UUID? The only way it can work is FROM your device. . . so that cannot even attempt it except from your device, which is NOT a supercomputer.
It is secure.
Wow! Being an Apple disciple I was sure their iCloud service went to great lengths to be secure, but I had no idea how sophisticated it is. Thanks for the easy-to-understand explanation!
Yes, it is secure.
If ya believe that you'll believe anything. A sucker born every minute...
Only YOU can retrieve your data
Feel free to sync your stuff and keep telling yourself Apple and others are spending tens of millions developing this stuff and then offering it for free of charge because they are such nice corporate people...
yukyuk