Yesterday, Dropbox, which is a very popular file syncing utility that stores user’s data in the cloud, announced that it would decrypt and hand over files if the U.S. Government requested it.
The issue I have with this is not that they would give the requested data to the Feds, they really have no choice if the Feds have a warrant, buts its that Dropbox employees even have the ability to decrypt user’s data in the first place.
Maybe I am paranoid, but I do not like the idea that the employees of data storage companies have the ability to see my files. It seems to me that there now is a place in the market for another “Dropbox” like company, but one that gives the user control over its own encryption key.
Sure, there are tools out there that can be used to encrypt data before it even reaches the Dropbox servers. The first one that comes to mind is the wonderful, feature rich, and absolutely free tool called Truecrypt. However, using that with Dropbox its a hassle at best, not to mention that it would make the smartphone app completely useless.
Dropbox, we all love your service and you provide a great cloud storage solution, but please for the love of God, give us control over our own encryption keys. Give us the ability to ensure that we are the only ones that can access our data.
Below is a link to another article about this topic from PCWorld.com
Update: Dropbox Will Hand Over Your Files to the Feds If Asked
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