The background behind it is we evaluate this option (and debate it internally) all the time, and it's neither in line with the type of services we are expected offer (collab, etc), and there is insufficient customer demand for it. It is also dangerous, since nontechnical users lose their private keys with startling frequency, and it's difficult to explain to them that we're completely unable to help them when this happens.
We do, however, totally know there is a small slice of technical users that want to treat Dropbox as an opaque "backup service", and they're willing to take on the risk of key management. So we refer them to one of our partners that specializes in providing this layer on top of Dropbox.
Never say never, so we may decide to offer this type of account in the future--possibly to businesses. We would have to alter or disable large swaths of collaboration features that require server-side representations/alterations of data. But, as I said, it's a product feature under constant consideration.
2.
Once again, I have to emphasize, this is a personal take, not Dropbox's take.
I sympathize with the tinfoil hat crowd, but I think most Dropbox employees find it a disappointing take on the company that has always strived to make the very best cloud storage product possible, on all platforms.
We are in a segment (cloud sync/collab, not backup) with some very, very large players. Storage is not a loss leader to us. It is not subsidized by a massive advertising network capitalizing on customer behavioral data. Our customers are not what's for sale--our storage services are.
If you or your business does not like our services--does not consider them fast, secure, etc--enough to pay for them--we don't get revenue.
I very much doubt any of our competitors cares as much about your data staying private, available, usable, etc, as we do. There is no other way for us to capture value from the market then make you all ridiculously pleased with Dropbox and Dropbox's treatment of your data.
So I would ask you to imagine what the culture of a company looks like that is incentivized thusly. We obsess over doing the right thing with your data. So threads like this are hard to read, to be honest.
This is inflammatory insulting language and your use makes me trust Dropbox even less. The thing is that post Snowden companies like the one you work for are assumed to be in the wrong on privacy and the "tinfoil hat crowd" as you put it are demonstrably correct. Companies (and individuals) don't use Dropbox because they trust it (anymore) they use it because they think that they documents they store there don't have any important intellectual property that the US government can pass to their competitors/ will contribute much to the sum total of what the NSA data store knows about them.
1.
The best answer I can give you is here: https://www.dropbox.com/en/help/28
The background behind it is we evaluate this option (and debate it internally) all the time, and it's neither in line with the type of services we are expected offer (collab, etc), and there is insufficient customer demand for it. It is also dangerous, since nontechnical users lose their private keys with startling frequency, and it's difficult to explain to them that we're completely unable to help them when this happens.
We do, however, totally know there is a small slice of technical users that want to treat Dropbox as an opaque "backup service", and they're willing to take on the risk of key management. So we refer them to one of our partners that specializes in providing this layer on top of Dropbox.
Never say never, so we may decide to offer this type of account in the future--possibly to businesses. We would have to alter or disable large swaths of collaboration features that require server-side representations/alterations of data. But, as I said, it's a product feature under constant consideration.
2.
Once again, I have to emphasize, this is a personal take, not Dropbox's take.
I sympathize with the tinfoil hat crowd, but I think most Dropbox employees find it a disappointing take on the company that has always strived to make the very best cloud storage product possible, on all platforms.
We are in a segment (cloud sync/collab, not backup) with some very, very large players. Storage is not a loss leader to us. It is not subsidized by a massive advertising network capitalizing on customer behavioral data. Our customers are not what's for sale--our storage services are.
If you or your business does not like our services--does not consider them fast, secure, etc--enough to pay for them--we don't get revenue.
I very much doubt any of our competitors cares as much about your data staying private, available, usable, etc, as we do. There is no other way for us to capture value from the market then make you all ridiculously pleased with Dropbox and Dropbox's treatment of your data.
So I would ask you to imagine what the culture of a company looks like that is incentivized thusly. We obsess over doing the right thing with your data. So threads like this are hard to read, to be honest.
And that's all I'll say about this issue.