Dropbox Re-Updates ToS, Doesn't Own Your Stuff and Won't Share It with Anyone

Dropbox has had to update the updated Terms of Service it revealed last week, to make it even clearer that Dropbox does not own your files and won't share them with anyone you don't want to.

A lot of controversy, mostly unwarranted, was stirred last week when users misread the updated and clearer ToS and understood that Dropbox owns your files and can do all sorts of things with them.

That was not the case, as Dropbox underlined in a couple of updates to the original post.

But, because the talks continued, Dropbox has rewritten the problematic part of the ToS to make it even clearer to everyone.

Dropbox needs a licensing agreement with you to be able to copy your files, for backups, share them with others, when you ask it to, or make thumbnails to be viewed online or in the mobile app. This is what this part of the ToS is about.

Here are the key parts of the new ToS, which go to greater lengths to underline that Dropbox does not take over your stuff.

"By using our Services you provide us with information, files, and folders that you submit to Dropbox (together, 'your stuff'). You retain full ownership to your stuff. We don’t claim any ownership to any of it," the re-updated ToS reads.

"We may need your permission to do things you ask us to do with your stuff, for example, hosting your files, or sharing them at your direction. This includes product features visible to you, for example, image thumbnails or document previews," it explained.

"To be clear, aside from the rare exceptions we identify in our Privacy Policy, no matter how the Services change, we won’t share your content with others, including law enforcement, for any purpose unless you direct us to," it added.

The last part may be a bit problematic though. While Dropbox may not share your files voluntarily with law enforcement agencies, it does have to comply with the law and the law is pretty clear, and geared away from user privacy, in the US.