How to Cancel SOS Online Backup

SOS Online Backup provides more advanced security options than most other online backup services, as well as some unique features, such as the ability to back up to a local folder concurrently and to truly archive your files. Customers also like that a single license covers multiple computers and an unlimited number of mobile devices, even though the storage rates are high. Another issue customers have with this otherwise excellent service is that its desktop and mobile apps could use a design refresh.

SOS is one of the priciest online backup services. You only get 50GB of storage for $4.99 per month or $44.99 per year. Granted, that plan includes up to five computers and an unlimited number of mobile devices. By paying $7.99 per month or $79.99 per year, you can increase the limit to 100GB. Plans start at $299.99 per month or $2,999.99 per year and go all the way up to 10TB. Interested users can sign up for a 15-day free trial account that does not require a credit card.

In comparison, IDrive ($15.90 for the first year at IDrive)(Opens in a new window) ($69.50 per year) provides 2TB of space for an unlimited number of computers. Backblaze charges $60 per year for unlimited storage, but a license only protects one computer. SOS does not provide free storage, unlike IDrive and Zoolz BigMind, which both provide 5GB free accounts.

SOS Online Backup is available for both Windows (Vista SP2 and later) and macOS (10.8 and later). To cancel an account, contact the SOS support team, who will create a formal ticket and send it to the billing team. You will receive an email confirming this request, but this is still a more indirect method than customers prefer.

When it comes to backup protection, SOS provides a few options. You can use standard password security after entering your account email and password, and your encryption key is stored on SOS Online's servers. There are also two ultra-secure options: Standard UltraSafe and UltraSafe Max. If you lose your password, neither of these options will allow you to reset it. Furthermore, whereas the UltraSafe option encrypts your files with a random key, the UltraSafe Max option requires you to keep a local encryption key. You can switch between account types later, but you must first delete any backup sets. According to SOS Online Backup, it encrypts locally before transfer with AES-256 encryption, then encrypts during transit with 256-bit SSL, and then encrypts again once at rest on an SOS server using the AES-256 standard.

Aside from making it impossible to recover your password, the UltraSafe Max option prevents you from using the web portal or mobile devices. You are the sole owner of the password for decrypting your backed-up data. Managing your key prevents the company from disclosing your data to law enforcement, even if required by a warrant. However, if you lose the key, even SOS employees will be unable to retrieve your data in an unencrypted state, so having a password manager remember it for you is probably a good idea. Choosing a standard is probably a good idea for everyone except the most privacy-conscious.

Speaking of passwords, SOS Online Backup does support two-factor authentication, but you must first enable it. Essentially, you must fill out your user information in the website's Manage section and then submit a request to a representative. Other services, such as Carbonite, Backblaze, and IDrive, make it much easier to enable this via a dedicated option in the settings section of their respective web interfaces.

SOS Online Backup is a product of Infrascale, a California-based company. According to Infrascale's privacy policy, it collects two types of information: account data and system metadata. SOS collects and uses this information to contact you, as well as to provide and improve its services. Customers value Infrascale's assurance that "we do not sell or rent Customer Data or Personal Information to anyone." However, it reserves the right to share data with third parties to maintain or provide services or to comply with law enforcement "when required by a subpoena, court order, search warrant, [or] other legal process." All of this is standard procedure.

With the security decision made, SOS's backup wizard begins. It automatically selects all documents, photos, music, and videos, but you can change this later. At this stage, SOS conveniently calculates the total space required and the number of files selected. The following screen displays a file browser from which you can further customize the selection and add data filters. You can also include network or external drives for backup purposes. There are no file size or type restrictions on uploads, so the sky is the limit.

Following that, select a backup schedule, which can range from hourly to monthly. You can direct SOS to concurrently back up files to a local folder from the scheduling screen, as well as specify how long files are kept online after they are deleted or if they go unedited for some time on the local machine.

Unlike some of its competitors, SOS does not provide true continuous backup for the entire backup set. For critical files, right-click and select Enable LiveProtect. When you do this, every time you make a change to the original, a new version of the file is automatically uploaded to online storage. Other services, such as Carbonite and Backblaze, make this much easier (continuous backup applies to all files in the backup set), and we'd like to see this feature improved.

When the backup process begins, a new dialog appears, displaying its status and even which file it is currently processing. You can pause the process, but there is no estimate of how long it will take. If your ISP has data limits, advanced options allow you to throttle your data usage by megabytes per day. It should be noted that SOS home users cannot back up disk images, whereas IDrive and Acronis True Image do.

Get together the following account information:

• First Name
• Last Name
• Phone Number
• Email Address
• Username
• Password
• Billing Address
• City
• State/Province/Region
• ZIP/Postal Code
• Country
• Reason for Cancellation
• Last 4 Digits of Card
• Date of Last Charge
• Amount of Last Charge
• Order Number

Follow these steps:

1. Pick up your phone and call 855-432-0727
2. Tell the representative that you'd like to cancel
3. Help the representative locate your account by providing the info they ask for
4. If applicable, ask for a refund
5. If you're unsure, ask if you're going to be charged again
6. It's important to keep the info about your cancellation, just in case!

Follow these steps:

1. Create an email requesting to cancel your account
2. Help the representative locate your account by providing the info they ask for
3. Ask the representative for a receipt, email, or confirmation number
4. Shoot the email to [email protected]
5. It's important to keep the info about your cancellation, just in case!