Government Data Requests? Thanks for Telling Us!

כ"ה לחודש השנים עשר תשע"ד

I have to use Dropbox at work. It is an easy way for my colleagues and I to share information, and to work from outside of the office, if need be. Sure, there are probably better, and more efficient systems out there, but this one is sufficient for our needs, inexpensive, and... my boss's decision, not mine.

This morning I found an e-mail message from Dropbox, informing its users of some changes in policy, terms of service, blah, blah, blah. Included in this message was "Dropbox's Government Data Requests Principles." The Red highlighting was added by me.

(See below for text of this screen shot.)

Dropbox's Government Data Requests Principles

We understand that when you entrust us with your digital life, you expect us to keep your stuff safe. Like most online services, we sometimes receive requests from governments seeking information about our users. These principles describe how we deal with the requests we receive and how we’ll work to try to change the laws to make them more protective of your privacy.

Be transparent:  Online services should be allowed to report the exact number of government data requests received, the number of accounts affected by those requests, and the laws used to justify the requests. We’ll continue to advocate for the right to provide this important information. Learn more.

Fight blanket requests:  Government data requests should be limited to specific people and investigations. We’ll resist requests directed to large groups of people or that seek information unrelated to a specific investigation. Learn more.

Protect all users:  Laws authorizing governments to request user data from online services shouldn’t treat people differently based on their citizenship or where they live. We’ll work hard to reform these laws. Learn more.

Provide trusted services:  Governments should never install backdoors into online services or compromise infrastructure to obtain user data. We’ll continue to work to protect our systems and to change laws to make it clear that this type of activity is illegal. Learn more.

Esser Agaroth (2¢):
You can click for yourself on anyone of the "Learn more" links, and then report back to me if Dropbox was any clearer than in its page posted above.

I do not know about you, but so far, I have no idea what Dropbox policy is, I assume, other than following the law. What those laws are, though, I do not know. I suppose that if Dropbox is fighting for or against one thing or another, then that could serve as a clue.

More disturbing, even though hardly news, was the following statement:

"Like most online services, we sometimes receive requests from governments seeking information about our users."

Sheep + People = "Sheeple"

Call me paranoid, but it seems pretty clear from this that "they" have been requesting data, and that multiple parties have been providing "them" with the data.

Just a friendly reminder. 

Wake up, stay awake, and don't be "sheeple!"