iCloud

iCloud is only worth recommending from a privacy perspective if you explicitly turn on Advanced Data Protection.

Advanced Data Protection improves iCloud substantially, but it is not universal. Mail, Contacts, and Calendar are not end-to-end encrypted. Shared Albums, iWork collaboration, and “anyone with the link” sharing are outside the same end-to-end protection model. Recovery setup becomes critical because Apple cannot help recover end-to-end encrypted data in the same way.

Key points include:

• iCloud Backup, iCloud Drive, Photos, and Notes benefit substantially once Advanced Data Protection is enabled
• The default setup is not enough for privacy-sensitive cloud storage
• Best fit for people deep in the Apple ecosystem who can maintain recovery contacts or recovery keys carefully