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Forum Discussion

robertpri's avatar
robertpri
Explorer | Level 3
2 years ago

If I pay for a plan to send files to my son, does he also have to pay

see title
  • Rich's avatar
    Rich
    12 months ago

    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.