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Forum Discussion

parsley's avatar
parsley
Helpful | Level 5
5 years ago

security concern: my full name appears on public folder links!

I recently shared a video from my public Dropbox folder - I copy/pasted a link to the video.

 

When I shared the video w a friend, they pointed out that my full name shows up on the video link!! That's very concerning seeing that it's in the public folder which I would expect the Dropbox team to take appropriate precautions for maintaining my privacy - especially if I shared a file from my public folder.

 

Interestingly that doesn't come up when I check on my laptop. But I just checked the link on my phone, and I see my full name! See attach a screenshot below.. (I blocked out my last name and the file name, but you can see my name shows up in the circled area)

 

Does anyone know to remove my full name when sharing a link like this through my public Dropbox folder?

 

  • Daphne's avatar
    Daphne
    Icon for Dropbox Staff rankDropbox Staff

    Hi there parsley, thanks for reaching out to us here!

     

    There isn't currently a feature that would allow you to hide this when sharing a link to your Dropbox files.

     

    As a workaround, I can suggest changing the name on your account in your account settings here while sharing links publicly.

     

    If you'd like to, you can also post a request for a feature like this within our dedicated area of the Community here, where others can upvote the post to show their support.

     

    Sorry that I can't be of much more help with this, but please let me know if you have any questions.

     

    Thanks!

    • parsley's avatar
      parsley
      Helpful | Level 5

      Hi @Daphne!

       

      Thanks for the workaround - that's a great idea. So that solved it.  good point: the name on my account doesn't have to be my full name.

       

      But it would be a cool feature though.. to enable an option to change your name on different shared files/folders - or at least items in the public folder to default as "anonymous" or "private" or even just "nothing" ..since you know, it's a "public folder".

       

      I guess we'll let the bots pick up this one:  @idea #idea #request #featurerequest #suggestion #improvement #security #update #upgrade ..any other keywords I'm forgetting?

       

      Thanks for your help :)

       

      • Daphne's avatar
        Daphne
        Icon for Dropbox Staff rankDropbox Staff

        I'm glad to hear that helped parsley!

         

        We wouldn't be able to track the feedback for your request from here, we have the dedicated section of the Community to allow us to track the support a request receives.

         

        If you'd like to have this as a request then you would need to post it there.

         

        Cheers!

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