

Michael Krigsman: Recommends Enterprises "discontinue use of" Dropbox - d0ne
http://www.zdnet.com/blog/projectfailures/convenience-over-privacy-is-dropbox-watching-you/13706

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edw
I wish I could make good money writing drivel like this. Here's his parting
sentence, emphasized in the original to let you know that it contains Prodound
Wisdom: "Therefore, continue using Dropbox for everyday file transfers where
you value convenience over an absolute guarantee of privacy."

Let me stop to give the world's most sarcastic eye-roll. Where exactly should
someone store their "stuff" (Dropbox's technical term) if what you want is
Michael Krigsman's "absolute guarantee of privacy"?

I've you've paused, put you hand on your chin, and got lost pondering that
conundrum, let me me help you out with an answer: _There is no such place._

I have a lot of sympathy for these Dropbox guys. They're by no means perfect —
those few hours of where their service was passwords-optional was pretty sad —
but as someone just commented, they have their hearts in the right place. I
attribute their PR troubles in part to the seemingly universal need for people
to see idols toppled. I never had the Dropbox religion — a religion that some
of my colleagues fell for, and hard — so I didn't suffer a mental breakdown
when they revealed themselves to be merely human.

This is Hacker News. You're supposed to be here if you're a programmer or a
technically-minded entrepreneur — or "starter," to use a term from 37signals
that I am fond of — and that means that you should have an understanding and
appreciation that products exist in the real world, where operational, legal,
and business considerations complicate everything.

Upon reading about what Dropbox is dealing with here, the rational response
for the Hacker News core audience is to do whatever irrational superstitious
ritual you do to keep bad luck away. And also to hope that your products
become successful enough to become the focus of the sort of scare mongering
that this article perpetuates.

~~~
rarrrrrr
"if what you want is Michael Krigsman's 'absolute guarantee of
privacy'...There is no such place"

That's exactly the guarantee that SpiderOak, Wuala, and Tarsnap make, all of
whom encrypt data before storing it.

~~~
ntoshev
I only know Tarsnap, and it is a backup service, not quite useable for "file
transfers" and sharing. There's a fundamental tradeoff between security and
convenience, and Dropbox is on a sweeter spot than the high-security
offerings.

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rabidsnail
The funny thing is that the terms in question are really common, and used by
eg: gmail and google docs, which nobody seems to be complaining about in this
context.

So I guess the lesson here is don't make your terms of service readable by
normal people, because while they might understand the language the media will
make sure they don't understand the content.

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yuvadam
I'm feeling very ambiguous over the recent Dropbox fiascoes.

Call me naive, but I really do believe Drew, Arash and the rest of the Dropbox
team really do have the best intentions.

On the other hand, they continuously keep tripping on their own shoelaces with
horrible PR management and lackluster communication with their customers.

Dropbox should have expected that their newly published TOS would be
scrutinized down to a microscopic level, making the latest shitstorm possible.

~~~
rabidsnail
They probably did think that it would be scrutinized at the microscopic level,
and that there wasn't anything controversial to find. The fact is that there
isn't anything out of the ordinary here. I defy you to find a popular content
sharing service that doesn't have some kind of license granting clause in its
terms of service or eula.

~~~
bluelu
The other content sharing services also din't publish a policy when they
started saying that (in interpreted form) the data you transfered was
encrypted and that there was no way they could decrypt or access your data.

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mustpax
So glad that Michael Krigsman of ZDNet has finally spoken on this issue.
Enterprise software pundits are truly a gleaming beacon of wisdom and insight
in this dark world of technology.

~~~
d0ne
Was hoping someone would feel the same way as I do.

As mentioned in other comments their TOS are not all that different than many
larger companies. The difference is that it is much easier to criticize
organizations the size of Dropbox with less fear of repercussion than say an
organization such as Google or Microsoft.

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gruseom
To publish this advice about Dropbox alone, without mentioning that the
language is common to many online services, borders on malpractice. The author
describes Dropbox's language as " _particularly_ onerous" (emphasis added),
which is just what it is not.

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theblueadept111
I encrypt anything important before I upload it to Dropbox, and I didn't have
to read their terms of service to take that precaution. It's always good to be
paranoid about your data, but it's idiotic to suggest that anyone discontinue
use of Dropbox because they _might_ scan your files someday to provide you
with targeted advertising.

The article is definitely fear mongering bullshit. IMO Dropbox is doing a
great job. It's simply one the most useful FREE apps out there, and my only
feedback for Dropbox is "thank you".

