Dropbox Speaks Out on Data Security Controversy

Dropbox has been making headlines this workweek, but not the kind of headlines that companies like to make. A complaint filed with the FTC accuses the cloud data storage supplier of deceptive and deceptive practices regarding honorable how secure client data is. But, Dropbox takes exception to the claims and is speaking out to defend its security policies and footing of service (Tos). Dropbox readily admits that IT has altered the price of service, only it rejects the idea that the terms were changed to backpedal along security or move the origin in the sand as it relates to Dropbox data protection.

Padlock — Dropbox encoding straddles the line between data tribute and a simple user experience.

No, according to a parvenue Dropbox web log post, the ToS is non fundamentally different than that of any other online entity–Google, Skype, Twitter, etc.. Dropbox says the ToC was restricted to clarify few points and make it easier for Dropbox customers to understand–especially when it comes to explaining the specialised circumstances under which Dropbox might expose information to law enforcement. "We felt our old TOS language was too broad, and gave Dropbox rights that we didn't even want."

Dropbox also stresses that customer data is not just handed concluded to police force enforcement at the drop of a lid. First, there is only an ordinary of one such request per calendar month–out of 25 million customers. Second, Dropbox has a stringent vetting process to guarantee that any such data request is legally voice, and in the event that a request doesn't get u to legal examination Dropbox wish stand up for the rights of the customer and protect the information.

I spoke with Dropbox founder and CEO Drew Houston who explained that Dropbox is acutely aware of security concerns, and information technology appreciates the responsibility it has to protect the data its customers entrust it with. With 25 million customers, keeping the data safely protected from unauthorized access is none small feat.

That said, there is a reconciliation act between security and simplicity, 'tween encoding and usability. Dropbox data is protected in transportation system by SSL, and is secured at rest on Dropbox servers using AES-256 encryption. But, encryption is a complex conception that even seasoned IT veterans are sometimes intimidated by, then Dropbox manages the encryption keys rather than expecting customers to empathise how to maintain and use their own private key.

But, organizations or separate customers that want better data trade protection and are comfortable managing their own encoding resolution are welcome to encrypt their own data also. There is nothing stopping Dropbox customers from encrypting their own data exploitation something suchlike Truecrypt, in which case Dropbox would have perfectly no ability to decipher or access that data. The tradeoff, though, is that when that client loses their own encryption identify, there will nonmoving be no way for Dropbox to decrypt or access the information, and nothing that Dropbox can do to facilitate a drug user recover their data.

Dropbox has been up front and transparent about the strengths and weaknesses of its data protection mechanisms. On that point are threads in the Dropbox forums geological dating rear three years showing Dropbox stick out personnel informing users how the Dropbox encryption whole kit and caboodle, and threads in the forums where Dropbox explains that only certain cay employees birth the ability to access encrypted data, and only in strictly defined scenarios.

As with any story, there are at least two sides, and the situation can look entirely different if you just take the time to look at it from the former linear perspective. In writing my earlier post about the Dropbox data protection tilt, I took strides to downplay the ominous overtones of unusual media reportage and give Dropbox the benefit of the dubiety, only some of the assertions successful are still inaccurate and answer a disservice to Dropbox. To represent fair, I should have reached out to Dropbox directly for their side of the story in the beginning place.