Figures show only one in four people currently back up their information regularly, a fact that alarms Data247 co-founder and chief executive Brett Hawthorne.

“People think their computers, phones or tablets are reliable, but in reality, they’re not – it’s not a question of if a piece of technology fails, it’s when, and when it does all the important information stored on that device can be destroyed," he says.

“In fact about 45 million times this year alone files will be lost forever, that’s hundreds of photos, conversations, calendars and more, gone in an instant.”

Designed to provide Kiwis with an accessible and affordable online back-up service to ensure their valuable files and data remain safe, the Data247 founders have made it their mission to develop a personal cloud that means users never need worry about the safety of their data again.

“People should back-up once a day or more but the common excuses for not doing so include ‘I don’t have time’, ‘it’s too complicated’ and ‘it’s too expensive’," Hawthorne adds.

“But when data is lost, regardless of the cause, be it a computer virus, a hardware or software problem, or other malfunction, it is typically unrecoverable.

“We increasingly trust technology to look after all the important memories in our lives, precious baby videos, financial documents, love letters, business emails and wedding photos – imagine what you’d lose if these were erased forever.”

The recent earthquakes in Christchurch and Wellington highlight the importance of backing up, says Hawthorne.

“Now is the time that people should be considering how to protect their data, and Data247 provides a simple and easy way for users to ensure their valuable information isn’t lost or damaged," he adds.

Data247 also a way to securely share items with family and friends, allowing users to back-up by file type, such as photos, documents, music, videos and mail.

According to Hawthorne, all they need to do is identify what is important and the software will find it and back it up no matter where it is on their PC.

Technical skills are not required, says Hawthorne, simply because Data247 backs up all user data whenever they are online.

“The cost of backing up data overseas, due to most New Zealander’s having monthly data caps, has made online back-up costly in the past, but this new product overcomes that,” says Hawthorne, who adds that Data247's data is held in Orcon’s Data Center in Auckland.