Hi. In simple language, can you please tell me the best way to protect my important and numerous files - music, images and docs - from being lost; in the event the computer crashes and data is irretrievable?

Question

I have a lot of photos and music, plus important personal files. In simple terms, can you recommend how I should go about backing these up and ensuring they are not lost through some computer malfunction?
I need to understand the uses and merits of iCloud, Time Machine and on/off site external drives. I don't really want to invest money, time or new external hardware to achieve this. It can't be too labour intensive, either.
I have an external drive, which I last backed up perhaps two years ago. It is old, it requires wiring, and it sits next to to the desktop, so would be useless in case of fire (god forbid), say.
At the same time, I am concerned about cloud storage, and putting personal info and files into anonymous server farms, and the hands of anonymous organisations/people.
Call me a luddite, but I suspect these are fairly standard concerns, and I can find simple answers with a simple Google search.
Thanks in advance for your help.

Answer 1

This is what Apple has to say:
Report on Government Information Requests
"... our business does not depend on collecting personal data. We have no interest in amassing personal information about our customers."
This one concerns iOS, but its approach to privacy is the same:
http://images.apple.com/ipad/business/docs/iOS_Security_Feb14.pdf
A couple stories about one Google alternative:
DuckDuckGo: the plucky upstart taking on Google with secure searches
DuckDuckGo: The privacy search ruffling Google's feathers
NSA scandal delivers record numbers of internet users to DuckDuckGo
Why Traffic To These Google Alternatives Is Soaring
One of several concerns about Google Chrome, for instance:
Chrome Bugs Allow Sites to Listen to Your Private Conversations
Google's Business Model: YOU Are the Product
"You are not a Google customer. You are a Google product."
Those aren't just anyone's worthless opinions. Those are also the exact words of a federal magistrate dismissing a case regarding privacy intrusion involving the plaintiff's Android phone:
"... With little or no revenue from its users, Google still manages to turn a healthy profit by selling advertisements within its products that rely in substantial part on users’ personal identification information (“PII”). As some before have observed, in this model, the users are the real product."
I understand you didn't ask primarily about Google, but you expressed the very understandable desire for privacy, yet don't seem to mind using Google for search. Those aren't reconcilable sentiments.