recent woes

Like a lot of scientists they (SETI) are fanatical about keeping the data secure.

If you think about it if we ever do find a signal for ET the very first questions to be raised are going to be about the integrity of the data and who has access to it...

You raise an interesting question here.

I wonder which method of data collection/storage would be given the most credibility.

Data collected and stored in a closet, backed up and restored using a 3rd party web based data backup organization.

Or data collected, stored, secured and backed up on site by a professional web hosting organization who also handle financial and other mission critical data for a large number of businesses.

PLEASE do not take this as an attempt to make this a number crunching discussion. This is economic considerations only.

I'm not here for stats. I don't care how many work units I complete. I don't care where my standings are in relation to others. The only thing I care about is the work unit my computer is processing right now, as I ask the question, "could this one be 'the one'?". If it's not, then I move on to the next one. I participate for one reason, and one reason only.... the search for proof of intelligent life out there. Most likely when we find it (amd I'm confident we will in my lifetime) my computer most likely won't be the one. But I will be able to stand up and brag proudly that I helped. I don't want good stats.... I want bragging rights!
-Carl