Privacy issues with dropbox?
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I have a bit of porn stashed in my dropbox folder, some videos and things- am I at any security risk? Who knows about stuff like this?
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Hi, there are three components to your question: does DB or any company for that matter have access to your files (has the encryption keys), does DB or any other company actually scan your data and how, and what do they do with that information.
DB does have the encryption keys meaning that they can peek into the files you have stored. As a case from 2015 proved (http://fortune.com/2015/12/01/dropbox-child-porn/) they do scan for offensive material, and they did go to the police with that information. Now, what is considered offensive is a very relative term and can change from place to place and from time to time. the Electronic Frontier Foundation keeps a close eye to such cases and publishes a wealth of information, if you care to take a look, I send you the 2015 report link (https://www.eff.org/document/who-has-your-back-2015-protecting-your-data-government-requests-0) plus some solid advice for protecting your privacy online, but, as a humble suggestion, just buy yourself a couple of external hard disks, or if you want to access the content out of home, you could set up a Network Attached Server to access remotely. I do believe it's worth the cost and the trouble..
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Most cloud services scan all content (MS, Google Dropbox).. And MS bans all pr0n.
MEGA Cloud gives 50GB free (!) and it's encrypted:
https://www.gaytorrent.ru/details.php?id=2ad0c90a02294dba2ff2a08d64ab880dde6d85dbeecb7e4a&hit=1 -
I wouldn't be too willing to jump onto the Mega wagon… I'm sorry to say it but, their encryption is not all it's cracked up to be. There are some serious flaws in their encryption that they refuse to admit to
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Yeah you might be right, it might not be bullet proof, however that's the case with any cloud service.
They're 50GB free is very generous though.
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Allow me to be a little more specific. With MEGA, you have a Master Key that you have to download and hold onto. If you lose this key and you forget your password, you are 100% SCREWED. The key in and of itself poses a security hazard if you plan on sharing anything through your MEGA cloud service for one simple reason. You need the key in order to be able to view any content, which is the same key that is used to recover your account and reset your password, and therefore, anyone whom may have their hands on a copy of a shared file link potentially has access to ALL your files, because as I said, this master key is required to view anything in your account. In the event that your key should ever come to be in the wrong hands, there is a grave potential for your account to be compromised, as it is the key that ultimately unlocks everything for you and allows you to change your account password.
So… MEGA advertises this as a good thing, when in fact, the whole concept of it all unto itself poses a security hole that MEGA refuses to admit. In fact, when I questioned them on this very point, every time they changed the subject on me and refused to answer my question. This tells me that they know damn well that this security flaw exists, and that they have absolutely NO intention of fixing it. So, with this I say, use MEGA at your own risk. From my experience, MEGA customer service is relatively ok, as long as you do not ask the right questions with regards to their security, and as long as you do not comment on how expensive their prices are for their paid platforms.
Now, as for Dropbox, that brings up a whole other realm of security flaws. If you're going to use Dropbox, the first thing that you need to know is that their customer support is TERRIBLE. More often than not, they'll send cookie cutter emails, which have absolutely NOTHING to do with what you've asked about, and when you do actually get a reply that isn't a cookie cutter reply, it's generally rather dismissive. I know this from first hand experience. It's been well over 6 months now that I've been complaining about a bug within Dropbox if you're using Ubuntu 16.04 in Gnome. Every time, I just get the same response about how they're looking into it, and they have no estimated time of resolution for the bug, yet they keep cranking out new features, catering to other platforms, while completely ignoring that their Linux app isn't what it should be. Also, if you're using their mobile app, be prepared for connection issues with your internet. The second you try to upload a mass amount of data, such as your entire pictures collection on your phone, or even worse, a long video, be prepared for the Dropbox Mobile app to suck back ALL available bandwidth, rendering your entire internet connection 100% USELESS, especially if you have a slower upload speed.
Aside from the downright TERRIBLE and utterly INCOMPETENT customer service, the second problem that you face with Dropbox is that all their data centres where your information is stored are located within the United States. This means that you can be damn sure that the US government is looking at your information because within the US, privacy (especially online) is a myth. For this reason, I would strongly recommend that you make use of some sort of third party encryption to ensure that your information cannot be compromised. These services however are a paid service, sadly.
So yes... Because of technical issues with the software, security holes that can be exploited, and absolutely TERRIBLE customer service, I simply cannot recommend either one of these two. I would strongly recommend that you use any cloud service other than Dropbox, MEGA, or pCloud. Simply put, my issue with pCloud is that they spy through your files and decide what you are and are not allowed to have in your online storage. I was actually banned from pCloud because I had an adult photo shoot of myself contained within my files, which they objected to. So... Be very careful with these services.
I've been looking at an alternative service such as Degoo, but sadly, because I am not a Windows user, I cannot take advantage of what they have to offer.
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Privacy laws in the US are extremely good, BUT they don't prevent the government from snooping; legally or illegally.
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I agree most of what yoy write mrmazda.
One can never really trust non-local hdd.
Btw, MEGA has that sync client and one can easily get masterkey through the app. Click in settings and it downloads to disk. If one restarts comp sync client automatically logs in when app started - unless one didn't log out of the app prior of restart/shutdown.
Oh heym there is this app called Air Explorer (for Win at least), google it, it can connect to all your cloud services and even sync between them + normal download / upload. One can have like 20 Google Drive accounts and or 10 Mega accounts - connected and usable at the same time (multi account client).
I have the 19$ version of Air Explorer if interested
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A possibility is to buy a private NAS (as suggested) and to opt for a hybrid cloud solution:
(e.g.) OwnCloud supports DropBox as an external storage,
this should be sufficient to grant cross-platform compatibility
and to encrypt the uploaded content (if you turn encryption on).This is sufficient to protect your privacy from first-level inspections,
although the used encryption will not be 100% bulletproof for advanced techniques.
