
Is Dropbox Safe? Does It Share Users Data with 5, 9,14 Eyes!!
- Salman Ahmed
- March 19th, 2019
Online safety and security is getting nearly impossible to maintain due to increasing cyber-attacks.
And another reason of losing online privacy is due to the habit of not reading the privacy policy and transparency report (if provided) of the apps you are using.
On the other hand, we all are dependent on the apps since it makes our life more comfortable.
Just like services like Dropbox app, one of the biggest file and data sharing and cloud storage solutions.
But due to increasing cyberstalking and hacking incidents, two questions come into my mind which are:
For this, apart from usual security measures to review an app, I will consider two significant parameters to identify whether “Is Dropbox safe and secure to use?”. The two principal parameters are:
For this I spend all most 48 work hours to figure it out is Dropbox secure and safe to use or not.
Unlike usual apps review, Onlineprivacytips.co go one step further to offer a complete report on app safety and security.
Dropbox is a cloud base file sharing app, and how secure this app is, depends on the way you use it.
The first safety concern regarding this file sharing app is that it requires id and password to use it.
The concern is not really about creating an account, but it links your account with other accounts.
So in case of any of those accounts hacked, since it’s a cloud base system, it eventually deletes your data and copies it and save it into someone’s system.
And this is where even you have set a strong password for your Dropbox account. But there are still some major drawbacks of Dropbox that you should consider before using it.
Dropbox app might look very simple to use for most users, but they do not about what kind of security to your data it provides.
This is why it is really important to find out how Dropbox works:
One of the major concern regarding “Is Dropbox safe and secure to use” is how it process to transfer users data.
This thing cannot forgo that cyber thieves can detect data over a network and use it to harass you.
And it is way easier to steal your data that transmits over a public network.
Dropbox service uses multiple protection layers in the process of transmitting data. It uses SSL (Secure Sockets Layer)/TLS (Transport Layer Security).
This layer of protection encrypts data and transfer between Dropbox servers and applications.
This layer of protection creates a secure tunnel based on 128-bit AES encryption that is nearly impossible for hackers to decrypt the data over the network.
Files during transfer get SSL/TLS security over the Dropbox server. However how Dropbox safe your files data which is already available on its servers?
Well, the files that are already on Dropbox cloud servers are secured by 256-bit Advance or military grade encryption.
This means there is no way that data hackers can access your files, which are available on Dropbox servers.
256-bit AES level encryption is the most secure way to encrypt your data since it uses hard to break algorithms and only a secret key decrypt the files in the server.
After what I reveal here, it seems like technically using Dropbox is entirely safe and secure to use. But in reality, it is not.
Online privacy is not depended only on the elements of security used by the app to offer its services.
But also depends on the way it collects your data and upon request of mass data surveillance countries whether it provides your data or not
Privacy policy and transparency report also reveal some significant security concerns that will greatly help users whether the app is safe and secure to use or not.
Unfortunately, most of the users do not bother to read privacy and transparency policy of the app we are using, and in the result, we end up with being compromised our personal data.
Offering transparency by the app that provides service like Dropbox is phenomenal. However, this is also true that Dropbox is registered in the US and is subject to deliver users data according to the PATRIOT Act.
This means that if US agencies demand your data and files, Dropbox will oblige to provide it regardless of you want to share it or not.
This means apart of using one of the most secure tunnels and encryption tool to protect your data; your data is still not safe and secure at all.
As per the mentioned below graph that is a part of Dropbox Transparency report, the increasing requests by government agencies and mass surveillance alliances is another massive evidence of that your not data is not safe and secure on Dropbox servers.
One more thing that concerns regarding “is Dropbox secure to use” is that it is located in the US that is a part of 5, 9, 14 eyes countries.
This is something that cannot be avoided when there is a question regarding Dropbox safety and security.
The objective of securely transfer your files and stores on Dropbox entirely vanishes since your data can be share to mass data surveillance countries.
This is why Edward Snowden called Dropbox service “Hostile to Privacy”:
“We’re talking about encryption,” Snowden said during a remote interview for the New Yorker Festival in 2014. “We’re talking about dropping programs that are hostile to privacy.
For example, Dropbox? Get rid of Dropbox; it doesn’t support encryption; it doesn’t protect your private files.”
If you are still not satisfied with the evidence that concludes that using Dropbox is neither safe nor secure.
Following are some privacy policy aspects that will help you to understand why I am not in favor of using it.
Before revealing what kind of data Dropbox collects and share with whom, another reason for discussing privacy policy here is to create awareness regarding how important it is to read it before using any app.
According to Dropbox privacy policy, following kind of data and information is start collecting by the app once you sign in with its service:
(Source: Dropbox Privacy Policy)
They also ass