Dropbox responds to controversy blocking infringing video in personal folder

Dropbox makes it clear that it does not view personal files in user folders, but makes a comparison based on hashes to prevent parts of content that infringes copyright. Last weekend there was a fuss about this.

In a tweet last weekend, Darrel Whitelaw indicated that he was unable to share a Dropbox folder due to a Dropbox takedown request. The tweet was soon retweeted thousands of times, forcing Dropbox to release a statement. “We sometimes receive DMCA requests to remove links based on copyright objections. If we receive them, we will act within the law and undo the links,” Dropbox told TechCrunch. The service has been doing this for years.

Dropbox uses an automated system that prevents users from sharing identical infringing material via Dropbox links. “This works by comparing hashes of files. We don’t look in your personal folder.” The comparison will only match identical files, and if a blacklisted file is found to be shared, only the link will be blocked, not the file in the folder itself.

Dropbox also uses the hashing algorithms to avoid adding identical files multiple times: if a user puts a file in their dropbox folder that is identical to a file that has already been uploaded, access is simply given to that file to save bandwidth and storage capacity. The file is encrypted and Dropbox manages those keys, and can therefore look into files, TechCrunch writes. Security would be in place to prevent employees from misusing this.