There is a proper location.
There is a standard for proper filesystem structure. Its current version has been around for over a decade, which might be news to some Linux distros.
The latest version of the Filesystem Hierarchy Standard is 2.3:
http://www.pathname.com/fhs/pub/fhs-2.3.html
There, under the "Purpose" section of var, it explains why that's a bad idea to use /var/backups:
Several directories are `reserved' in the sense that they must not be used arbitrarily by some new application, since they would conflict with historical and/or local practice. They are:
/var/backups
/var/cron
/var/msgs
/var/preserve
The proper place would be, dependent on the application and its usage, something like:
/var/lib/<app>/backups
/var/local/<app>/backups
/var/opt/<app>/backups
(I say "something like" because whether you use /var/lib, /var/local, or /var/opt is dependent on the application, its role within the system, and how it was installed. Also, the structure under /var/lib/<app> is arbitrary based on the application maintainers.)
By the way, since you mentioned it, /var/www is not the proper place for served web pages (again, this is news to some distro and package maintainers, but the FHS is older that many of them who clearly never have read it). Served content, and stored application data/assets for services belong under the /srv directory. I have been using the protocol method since 2005 and find it works quite well (/srv/http, /srv/ftp, /srv/git, /srv/svn, etc.).
Let's say that that you are using rsync and that this machine is providing a backup service for the network, you would use:
/srv/rsync/backups
UPDATE
Version 3.0 of FHS:
https://refspecs.linuxfoundation.org/FHS_3.0/fhs/index.html
Looks like it's using eCryptfs encryption.
If the home folders are set up for the same locations, and you're using the same username and same passphrase, I think you should be able to log in & decrypt your home as usual... unless there were major changes from 12.04 to 14.04, I'm not sure.
You could mount it with ecryptfs-recover-private if you just want to read & copy the files over to a new (encrypted) profile.
Or you could try ecryptfs-rewrap-passphrase to "unwrap an eCryptfs wrapped passphrase, rewrap it with a new passphrase, and write it back to file" using your old & new login passphrases. Then you should be able to decrypt & use your old home folder again (if it's in the right location, etc).
See the man pages for more info, and keep/make a backup of the files before changing them, just in case. Really should have a backup of the un-encrypted files too (encrypted using a different method perhaps, like a tar.gz.gpg) to be extra careful too.
Best Answer
Private.mntis a configuration file read bymount.ecryptfs_privateat login that defines where your encrypted directory should be mounted. If you've encrypted your home directory, this will be$HOME. But some people choose to encrypt some other directory, perhaps a subset of$HOME, like$HOME/Private.Private.sigcontains "signatures" or "hashes" of your encryption keys. These are used as "handles" to identify the keys in use. It provides a safe, secure mechanism for eCryptfs to determine if you're using the correct key or not.Both of these are absolutely required and eCryptfs will NOT function properly with out them!!!
Full disclosure: I'm one of the authors and maintainers of eCryptfs.