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Dropbox telemetry can't be disabled

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Re: Dropbox telemetry can't be disabled

#41

Post by popey »

Pawka wrote: post #38
popey wrote: post #34

I switched away from Dropbox to Syncthing https://syncthing.net/ a few years ago. Running it on Windows, Mac and Linux (I don't use it on mobile) to keep all manner of files in sync across a bunch of machines. While it doesn't have all the shell integration and end-user friendliness of Dropbox, it also doesn't have the pitfalls like (non-optional) telemetry and constant up-sell.

I did the same. Plus also I'm using on my Android phone. Replaces Dropbox completely unless I want to share something with other people. But for that case I usually use Sharing feature from Synology NAS.

Oh I also have shared folders with other people. We used to use it for sharing audio files between podcast presenters, which worked well enough. I have half a dozen folders in my $HOME, shared with different groups of people.

I also have Syncthing installed on my home server which gets backed up. So I have a copy of all my files backed up there, in the event a laptop goes missing or dies.

The only use case I haven't yet covered is an off-site backup of my Syncthing folder, which would be sensible. I just don't know who I can trust with it.

Re: Dropbox telemetry can't be disabled

#42

Post by Syssiphus »

Pawka wrote: post #6

Is this still a case? The first comment in thread is from 2020, the last - from 2021. Now where I live is 2023. I don't have any relationship with Dropbox, but we should be precise that this information might be outdated.

I checked my pi-hole query log and couldn't find any reference to the named telemetry address.

Re: Dropbox telemetry can't be disabled

#44

Post by rcxdude »

weberer wrote: post #26
bheadmaster wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I see a trend of software engineers that don't see users as someone who they are providing service to - they see them as just one element of a machine they're optimizing to make their software better. They feel that the engineering quest itself is the most important thing in the world, so they feel entitled to any and all data they are technically capable of collecting. It's a shame. I wish more engineers would see t…

If you asked me which part of the company decided to shove telemetry in the product, my last guess would be the software engineers.

There is a reason it's popular: it's extremely useful for software development to a) have actual hard data on how your software is being used, and b) have a large selection of crash data for debugging rare issues. If it's not the software engineers who want it, it's the technical management who see the immense value in having it.

Re: Dropbox telemetry can't be disabled

#45

Post by wanda »

1vuio0pswjnm7 wrote: post #19

Many times on HN, commenters have mocked those who questioned why someone would use Dropbox instead of a method controlled by the user. I guess becausse someone made lots of money from it or it became popular or something. I always found this perplexing because I look at solutions from the perspective of the user, namely, me, not from the perspective of a third party "tech" startup founder. It's insensitive to the pe…

Dropbox's specific popularity on HN may partially stem from its original backing by YC. It will have enjoyed additional exposure here thanks to that, and to be fair to Dropbox, it was a good product.

I say *was because I cannot speak for how it is now, I do not have any data to judge how it is now.

I stopped using it a long time ago – not because I disliked it, I just picked a different solution.

Re: Dropbox telemetry can't be disabled

#46

Post by willis936 »

smittywerben wrote: post #29

I stopped using dropbox after finding it quarantines files. You won't know about this until you try to migrate off Dropbox. It just gives me the creeps now.

I stopped when I stopped being comfortable with them looking at my data. My sensibilities changed and software options had advanced to the point that the activation energy of switching to an E2EE solution had been surpassed. I use self-hosted nextcloud + wireguard + B2 encrypted backup. It's not perfect, it's more setup on each device (no longer a single auth away from the data), but it's well worth it to me.

There's a market here. Idk how big. Apple seems to think there's a market here too. If they offered larger sizes I might be tempted to go all in on Apple.

Re: Dropbox telemetry can't be disabled

#47

Post by redder23 »

Don't use any if these proprietary shit apps in the first place. I find it silly to complain about things like that. Even if they have opt-out or even opt-in. They will eventually change it, they will abuse you. They will have "bugs" that leak data. You can only trust open source. And there are plenty of alternatives, that you can self host.

Re: Dropbox telemetry can't be disabled

#48

Post by brettermeier »

jiri wrote: post #35

One can install and use nextcloud. You get similar client and similar experience. You need to care about your data and server though.

Taking care of data and servers is the big problem, even for people who are more into computers. There are many holes to fall into.

Re: Dropbox telemetry can't be disabled

#49

Post by weberer »

rcxdude wrote: post #44
weberer wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you asked me which part of the company decided to shove telemetry in the product, my last guess would be the software engineers.

There is a reason it's popular: it's extremely useful for software development to a) have actual hard data on how your software is being used, and b) have a large selection of crash data for debugging rare issues. If it's not the software engineers who want it, it's the technical management who see the immense value in having it.

You're forgetting the monetary incentives. It allows companies to collect personal data of every user and sell it to "our partners" to build larger marketing profiles.

Re: Dropbox telemetry can't be disabled

#50

Post by Hamuko »

michael9k wrote: post #25
Hamuko wrote: post #8

Do people still use Dropbox? I feel like I almost never hear recommendations for it. I personally abandoned Dropbox when they introduced a limit on the amount of devices you could use for free plans, and the cheapest plan was like 120€/year for 2 TB.

Maybe I just have a different view of pricing, but I find €120 a year for 2TB with unlimited versions, ability to share files of any size, rock solid syncing on all my devices etc to be extremely cheap!

My problem is that I don't need 2 TB. I had like 10 GB of files on Dropbox. And Google offers 100 GB of Drive storage for 20€/year.
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