Ask HN: How do I leave Dropbox

2 pointskalu2y ago5 comments

I’m worried about dropbox looking at my files and sharing them with third parties without my consent. Not tying to debate whether they did anything wrong. The point is I am concerned and want to break up with them. I am looking for guidance on how to leave their platform. Information that would be helpful includes:

1. Recommended alternatives (ideally e2e encrypted)

2. How to move my data

3. How to completely delete all files from Dropbox and permanently rescind their ability to access my data in the future.

Thanks all in advance !

5 comments

ZunarJ52y ago

1. https://nextcloud.com/ -> https://shop.nitrokey.com/shop/nextbox-116#attr=68,217

This is what I am doing slowly ^.

https://proton.me/drive

https://github.com/awesome-selfhosted/awesome-selfhosted#fil...

2. Download all data locally then upload elsewhere. https://winmerge.org/

3. https://help.dropbox.com/security/privacy-policy-faq#7.-How-...

simonblack2y ago

3. How to completely delete all files from Dropbox and permanently rescind their ability to access my data in the future.

Good Luck with number 3!

This is akin to posting your bank details on a local wall. You can put it out there, but there's no certainty that you can ever withdraw it. Your best hope is that Dropbox is running low on storage and needs to reuse some disk space that has your data on it. That may happen sooner rather than later but don't hold your breath waiting for it to happen.

Maintain your own backup storage yourself. That's the only way to keep control of your own data.

By the way, who's doing the encrypting? You or the Dropbox alternative? If it's not you doing the encrypting, you may as well leave your files unencrypted. "If more than one person knows a secret, it's not a secret!".

YaBa2y ago

1. Mega

2. Copy / Paste

3. Close your eyes and believe that they do it.

Jokes aside, I've moved from Dropbox to Mega; I don't store private information on cloud services, however, some particular stuff was overwritten some times and deleted the history before closing the account.

Before that, I was suspicious too of Dropbox opening files, so I've planted a canary and never was triggered, so, there's that, unless you're some VIP, I highly doubt they check your files.

KomoD2y ago

1. mega is a pretty good and cheap one or keep using dropbox but just encrypt the files yourself

2. just copy it over?

3. delete your account https://help.dropbox.com/account-access/delete-account

rpgwaiter2y ago

You could also use rclone[0] to make an encrypted share on your Dropbox, then rclone move your data over to the encrypted share.

[0] https://rclone.org

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse