You might see that the Dropbox Community team have been busy working on some major updates to the Community itself! So, here is some info on what’s changed, what’s staying the same and what you can expect from the Dropbox Community overall.
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
Dropbox StaffHi 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?
- Rich
Super User II
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.
apfundDropbox Product Manager
Hi there,
if you are still interested in additional encryption, I have an update for you:
We have launched our end-to-end encryption last month. More details can be found here and here.
High level overview:
You can now add end-to-end encryption to team folders. The functionality is available for our Advanced, Business Plus and Enterprise customers at no additional costs.
If there are any questions, please let me know!
