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How to terminate your worst enemy's Dropbox account for only $795

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Re: How to terminate your worst enemy's Dropbox account for only $795

#31

Post by Flimm »

DanBC wrote: post #15
rdl wrote: post #2

I'd be really surprised if Dropbox didn't have a way to revert this (and to punish the Dropbox for Teams account creator, if identifiable).

Revert this how? Ann has an individual account. She joins a team. She leaves the team, and Bob (the team account owner) revokes her access. Dropbox deletes all her accounts. What can dropbox do here; set Ann back as a member of that team? Bob (paying a lot of money) is not happy with that.

Dropbox could delete all data shared with the team from Ann's account. Then it could set Ann's account to read-only access until Ann deletes enough data to meet the new maximum size limit.

Re: How to terminate your worst enemy's Dropbox account for only $795

#32

Post by Yoni1 »

smellyfinger wrote: post #19

Would you also be able to get all of your enemies files? or would your enemy have to share all his folders with the team?

As far as I know you can't get anyone's files if they don't explicitly share them (or put them in the Public or team folder).

Re: How to terminate your worst enemy's Dropbox account for only $795

#33

Post by xoail »

barredo wrote: post #14
xoail wrote: post #6

I can imagine why it is so hard to roll back to your old account once you leave a team. It might be best for companies to advise their employees to create separate dropbox account before joining a team.

It may be due to key encryption methods?

Yes, plus there is no distinction between your personal account and team's account once they are merged.

Re: How to terminate your worst enemy's Dropbox account for only $795

#34

Post by danso »

natural219 wrote: post #16

This seems like an issue best resolved through Dropbox support, not through HN Soapbox support. Edit: My main point is that I come here to read Hacker News, not Some Other Guy's Support Problems. Treating every dropped use case as a public relations crisis is just an exercise in getting yourself worked up for no reason. If this is a real issue that affects multiple, real users, then I'm sure Dropbox will do something…

Actually, I prefer this be resolved in the public arena, rather than on a case-by-case basis for everyone who encounters this problem. If the OP is accurate, then this is a problematic implementation detail that every corporate user should be aware of.

Re: How to terminate your worst enemy's Dropbox account for only $795

#35

Post by pearkes »

justinschuh wrote: post #17

Intermingling personal and work accounts is almost always a bad idea. I've seen colleagues get their personal accounts subpoenaed, have a firing result in loss of primary email/cell, or have really awkward communications show up in an IT audit. The overhead of maintaining separate accounts is very small (multi-profile browser, multi-account smartphone, etc.), and more than worth it given the liabilities. Beyond that,…

I recently bought a second laptop for home, even though it was common at the company I work for to use your computer for work and pleasure.

Under California employment law, an employer can argue that they own anything created on company machines[1]. If you work on side projects, I think it's a worthy investment.

[1] http://answers.onstartups.com/questions/19422/if-im-working-...

Re: How to terminate your worst enemy's Dropbox account for only $795

#36

Post by natural219 »

nr0mx wrote: post #30
natural219 wrote: post #16

This seems like an issue best resolved through Dropbox support, not through HN Soapbox support. Edit: My main point is that I come here to read Hacker News, not Some Other Guy's Support Problems. Treating every dropped use case as a public relations crisis is just an exercise in getting yourself worked up for no reason. If this is a real issue that affects multiple, real users, then I'm sure Dropbox will do something…

The OP says he did that: "I tried contacting Dropbox on twitter and using their site’s support contact form, and they have not yet gotten back to me."

There is a place for public notices of foul play by companies, certainly. Normally, though, those accounts garner my sympathy when they explain the full support story and get snubbed by a represenative, usually after at least some waiting.

Not saying that the OP didn't wait plenty of time, but I would find his complaint more compelling if he would have mentioned how long ago he contacted them.

Re: How to terminate your worst enemy's Dropbox account for only $795

#37

Post by natural219 »

danso wrote: post #34
natural219 wrote: post #16

This seems like an issue best resolved through Dropbox support, not through HN Soapbox support. Edit: My main point is that I come here to read Hacker News, not Some Other Guy's Support Problems. Treating every dropped use case as a public relations crisis is just an exercise in getting yourself worked up for no reason. If this is a real issue that affects multiple, real users, then I'm sure Dropbox will do something…

Actually, I prefer this be resolved in the public arena, rather than on a case-by-case basis for everyone who encounters this problem. If the OP is accurate, then this is a problematic implementation detail that every corporate user should be aware of.

I give some leeway for problems that seem to be bugs rather than intentional features. I doubt Dropbox intended for your account to be deleted in this scenario.

Re: How to terminate your worst enemy's Dropbox account for only $795

#38

Post by sltkr »

Yoni1 wrote: post #18
xoail wrote: post #6

I can imagine why it is so hard to roll back to your old account once you leave a team. It might be best for companies to advise their employees to create separate dropbox account before joining a team.

If it's hard it's due to bad design. It could've been possible.

But good design is hard too.

Re: How to terminate your worst enemy's Dropbox account for only $795

#39

Post by danso »

natural219 wrote: post #36
nr0mx wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The OP says he did that: "I tried contacting Dropbox on twitter and using their site’s support contact form, and they have not yet gotten back to me."

There is a place for public notices of foul play by companies, certainly. Normally, though, those accounts garner my sympathy when they explain the full support story and get snubbed by a represenative, usually after at least some waiting. Not saying that the OP didn't wait plenty of time, but I would find his complaint more compelling if he would have mentioned how long ago he contacted them.

> There is a place for public notices of foul play by companies, certainly.

Why does there have to be foul play involved? Security holes largely exist because of negligence. As do poorly-implemented features. Not everything that is harmful is a result of evil manifesting itself.

Re: How to terminate your worst enemy's Dropbox account for only $795

#40

Post by nr0mx »

Yoni1 wrote: post #22
rdl wrote: post #2

I'd be really surprised if Dropbox didn't have a way to revert this (and to punish the Dropbox for Teams account creator, if identifiable).

OP here - (in my story) the Teams account creator did not do this out of cruelty, they just didn't know this is what Dropbox does. I imagine very few people realize that this is how it works. What should've happened is this: revoke my access to the team folder and downgrade my account back to Free. (Then, annoy me and refuse to sync until I go down to 2GB of usage.) That would be good design.

Reading the Dropbox help page, it seems like the situation might be worse if you were a paying customer: "If you convert your existing account to Teams, the balance you have remaining on your Pro subscription will be credited to the Teams subscription.". The language is pretty clear that an individual to Teams conversion is final, irrevocable.

That in itself is okay, but then the conversion mail should have come with big, red warning notices; not the bland email you seem to have received.

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