Mega.nz

MEGA is a cloud storage service that focuses on security. It offers users excellent end-to-end encryption and a great free plan with plenty of storage. However, its history has remained controversial, and its zero-knowledge encryption makes collaboration difficult.

How is MEGA used?

MEGA is a secure cloud service offering robust sharing features. It’s convenient for sharing sensitive data with multiple layers of protection for your shared links. Everything uploaded to MEGA remains encrypted with an individual encryption key that can stay sent separately. However, only paying users can set expiration dates and passwords for links.

MEGA’s interface can sometimes remain confusing, and there are many connections between its features, especially regarding file sharing. In comparison, Tresorit is a safe cloud storage service that makes file distribution much easier and less confusing for users.

Function

An outstanding feature of MEGA is its end-to-end encryption. All files uploaded to MEGA servers are encrypted on the client side, meaning the user can only decrypt their data. This makes for a very safe cloud storage service.

In addition to excellent security, MEGA has many features – some necessary, some not. It has some sharing features and some nice extras like a chat client. However, it lacks combination with third-party apps, so it’s not the better for collaboration, leaving some users to stick with Google Drive and OneDrive (read our Microsoft OneDrive review).

Ease of use

MEGA’s interface design, with bold reds and dark contrasting grays, seems a bit dated by today’s standards. It helps with readability, making everything easy to see and read. MEGA added a dark mode in 2021 to make it a little easier on the eyes at night.

MEGA offers several applications allowing users to access the service differently. The two desktop apps we mentioned are mobile apps for Android and iOS. The browser remains handled through the MEGA.io website (formerly MEGA.nz) or a special add-on for Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox. MEGAcmd further extends the MEGA feature set.

MEGA, Kim Dotcom, and China

Kim Dotcom founded MEGA.nz in 2013. Since leaving the company in 2015, he has claimed that MEGA remains taken over by Chinese investor William Yan, who remains wanted in China for fraud. Whether that’s accurate remains yet to stay determined, but it’s something to be attentive to.

Many of MEGA’s shareholders remain influenced or connected to the Chinese government, and China is notorious for not caring about protecting people’s privacy. Again, no wrongdoing has remained confirmed, but it’s worth keeping these concerns on your radar.

Fortunately, all your files remain encrypted, so even MEGA can’t access sensitive data. It would help if you didn’t have to worry about the president of China looking at your cat pictures.

Conclusion

Finally, Mega is known for its good security protocol. It uses AES encryption to secure files with client-side encryption, just like pCloud and Sync.com.