Dropbox is getting called to task
I adore Dropbox and use it heavily. However, I knew the day would come where we’d have to deal with the uglier side of our lovely little digital cloud. Miguel de Icaza has called Dropbox to task over their disingenuous statements regarding file security. Basically, Dropbox promised us that our files were safe from prying eyes, only to later admit that they’d allow the government to pry whenever it sees fit.
This isn’t simply a question of a company kowtowing to security-state scare tactics, it’s also a question of bad security engineering. Basically, if Dropbox can show your files to the FBI without asking, then they can show those same files to ANYONE without asking. Regardless of what security claims Dropbox may have made, it’s clear that your dropbox is basically public data.
Being the all around paranoid I am, I’ve always treated my dropbox as basically public. I’ve never put something up there that I couldn’t afford to lose to the wilds of the internet. That said, it’s still very disappointing to see their grand security claims come up as no more than smoke and mirrors.
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Now is the time for all who value privacy to learn about GPG.