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Forum Discussion
If I pay for a plan to send files to my son, does he also have to pay
see title
robertpri wrote:
So, please clarify in one word: Does Dropbox encrypt my files? Yes? No?
It's not that simple, but the short answer is no, Dropbox does not encrypt your files. Any files that you send or download from your account will be received or downloaded as you originally sent them. Dropbox does not alter your files.
That said, yes, Dropbox does encrypt your files as they're being synced to Dropbox. The way Dropbox works is that each one of your files is split into individual 4MB chunks. Each of those chunks is hashed and encrypted before being sent to the Dropbox servers where they're stored in their chunked form. When you sync with other devices, the device receives those file chunks, decrypts them and reassembles them back into your original, unaltered file.
So yes, Dropbox encrypts your files as part of the sync process, but it doesn't encrypt the end-state file. If you send a file to someone, they're going to receive your original, unaltered file. Dropbox does not alter your files.
- Nancy
Dropbox Staff
Hey robertpri! Welcome aboard the Community.
That really depends on the way you share your files with him.
If you share a folder with him, and he’s on a free Basic plan and your files are more than 2GB in size, he’ll need more space to add them to his Dropbox account.
What you can do instead is share a link with him, which doesn’t take up Dropbox space, and send it over. This way, he can download your files, or you can grant him with edit permissions to it, in case he needs to make some edits.
Hope this helps! Let me know, if you have other questions, though.
I sent the small encrypted file but dropbox sent him a msg saying it could not recognize the encryption. Ah, that is the purpose of encryption. I just want the file sent. Simple. The format was a .doc file. Nothing complicated.
Sent two encrypted files to sons using dropbox link and also email method. None of the files can be decrypted. Does dropbox further encrypt the already encrypted files? Making them gibberish
- Nancy
Hi again, robertpri. When uploading files to the Dropbox server, there are encryption protocols indeed. However, this shouldn’t affect your actual files.
Confused here. Your reply clearly indicates my files are encrypted. But, on that page you referenced, is this:
"Dropbox doesn't offer client-side encryption. Dropbox also doesn't support the creation of your own private keys. However, Dropbox users are free to add their own encryption."
So, please clarify in one word: Does Dropbox encrypt my files? Yes? No?
