How to use Cloudsweeper

Cloudsweeper allows you to look at the files in your cloud storage in new ways. Once you have logged in and granted our app permission to download your Google Drive files, this web app will start downloading the complete list of files that you have stored in Google Drive. This can take almost a minute depending on how many files you have stored. Importantly, unless you opt in to specific use modes, none of this information leaves your computer. It all stays stored in your browser and is not sent back to our servers.

File Explorer

The first tool is a traditional file explorer, similar to what you would find on a traditional computer. This allows you to view your Google Drive as a hierarchy of files, just as you would in the traditional Google Drive interface.

Data Grid

The Data Grid allows you to group, sort, and filter all of your files using different aspects of the file. For instance, you can group files by the year they were last modified, their owner, or their file type. This allows you to get a good overview of the different types and ages of files you have stored in your drive.

Tree Map

The tree map allows you to visualize the overall storage usage of your account. Each rectangle in the interface is sized in proportion to the amount of bytes that individual file or folder takes up in your Google Drive. You can click on folder names to focus on that folder only, and you can click on the folder name at the top of the interface to reset focus to the parent directory. Note that files that are too small to see clearly in the interface will be hidden.

File Previews

If you select any file from any of the interfaces, it will activate a “preview pane” that gives detailed information about the selected file, including a visual preview and some important metadata. You can request the machine learning usefulness and sensitivity predictions from this interface. If you have opted in to having your usage of Cloudsweeper shared with us, you can provide your opinion about whether you would like to save or delete this file. Note that this does not actually delete the file. If you provide feedback about a file, we will store metadata about the file (but not its contents) alongside your decision. This information will also not be linked to your identity unless you have consented for us to do so.

Machine Learning Predictions

Cloudsweeper lets you use the Aletheia classifier to predict the sensitivity and usefulness of each of your files. This prediction requires sending the file to our servers so that it can run the classifier on your file. By default, the contents of your file and its metadata are immediately discarded as soon as the prediction is made, and no record of the result of the prediction is retained. You can see the result of this analysis by clicking the “Analyze” button that is available in the Data Grid and in the File Preview interfaces.