
Dropbox says It Can Decrpyt Files If The Government Ask - sinzone
http://www.businessinsider.com/dropbox-updates-security-terms-of-service-to-say-it-can-decrpyt-files-if-the-government-asks-it-to-2011-4
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ggchappell
A number of things here are being said in misleading ways.

The title:

> DROPBOX: We'll Turn Your Files Over To The Government If They Ask Us To

No, they didn't say that. They said, "... Dropbox cooperates with United
States law enforcement when it receives _valid legal process_ , ...."
(emphasis mine) And that is quite a bit different from "ask". I imagine the
Dropbox people know the difference; I would be pretty unhappy about this
title, if I were one of them.

> ... shouldn't affect the average user unless they're doing something wrong.

As pointed out by HN'er sixtofour, the real issue here is not whether you are
doing something wrong, but whether you are _accused_ of doing something wrong.

However, _I_ will point out that this change in the privacy policy, will, in
fact, affect _no users at all_. Dropbox is simply pointing out that, being
based in the U.S., they are of course required to obey U.S. law. They were
required to do so, even before they pointed that out. Now they are being clear
about this fact. Good for them, but it doesn't change what they are required
to do.

Also, it's worth noting, that that ridiculous line about "unless they are
doing something wrong" does not appear to come from Dropbox, but from the
author of the article.

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sixtofour
"shouldn't affect the average user unless they're doing something wrong."

s/doing/accused of doing/

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petercooper
The protip, then, is to create a 256 bit AES-encrypted sparseimage and store
that (or several of them) on your Dropbox. So the government might be able to
get hold of your sparseimages but Dropbox wouldn't be able to open them up.

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iamben
I suppose if you _really had_ to store something sensitive on Dropbox, you'd
just TrueCrypt it first... Not really an issue then, no?

