2013-07-24
Explanation
This lengthy comic satirizes cloud computing and data storage services by imagining catastrophic consequences of storing your brain "in the cloud." The comic opens with someone describing how they uploaded their brain to cloud storage, similar to how people back up files online. A series of disasters ensues: there is a data breach, the cloud service company has an outage, the company sends a form letter apologizing for an "unforeseen" incident where an unknown amount of users'' brain data was "briefly intercepted" by a third party, and ultimately the person''s consciousness and identity are compromised.
The comic plays on real-world anxieties about cloud computing -- data breaches, corporate negligence, boilerplate apology letters, and the casual way tech companies handle sensitive personal information. By escalating the stakes from "we lost your documents" to "we lost your brain," Weinersmith highlights how absurdly inadequate corporate responses to data breaches already are, and imagines how much worse they would be if even more personal data were at stake. The form letter in the comic, with its hollow apologies and complimentary offerings, parodies real breach notification letters that companies send after exposing millions of users'' data.
The votey shows a character exclaiming "WooOOOooOH!" which appears to be an enthusiastic reaction, possibly satirizing how consumers remain excited about cloud services despite all the risks illustrated in the comic.