Overview
Here are a list of common questions and answers for University of Oregon's Dropbox service.
Information
Why is UO providing Dropbox?
If users are currently using Dropbox under a personal account, their data is not covered under a UO contract that allows for UO sensitive data (FERPA included, HIPAA at a later date) to be stored in Dropbox. By having your account exist within the UO Dropbox offering, those data classifications are covered.
Who is eligible for Dropbox?
UO is offering Dropbox to all faculty, staff, and students. Role and/or non-person accounts are not eligible for Dropbox access.
What if I already pay for a Dropbox account?
Assuming that you are not hosting UO-restricted data in your account, at this time you can continue to use your Dropbox account. If you do have sensitive UO data in your personal Dropbox account, you will need to join the UO offering. Please see the related question below for more info.
As a bonus, once you join the UO Dropbox offering, Dropbox will refund your method of payment for the remainder of your contract period. Please see Join an Existing Team, specifically:
If you upgrade or transfer from Dropbox Plus or Professional to Dropbox Business, your Plus or Professional subscription will immediately end. Any remaining credit on the Plus or Professional subscription will be refunded to the original payment method. Each individual Dropbox account owner can track this information on the account payments page.
What if I already have a Dropbox account with my UO email account?
At this time, we have implemented a choice to opt into the UO Dropbox offering. You will see a notice in your Dropbox saying you've been invited. You may currently choose to ignore this, and continue working in your personal account, or join the UO's Dropbox offering. At that time, you will be offered the choice to either merge your personal and UO accounts, or rename (provide a different email) your personal account to move the data there.
At this time, this step is optional. At a future date, UO may require any account with an @uoregon.edu email account attached to it to become part of the UO Dropbox offering.
What if my Dropbox account is under a personal email and I'd like to join UO Dropbox?
If you are an employee and would like to migrate your personal Dropbox.com account to the University of Oregon Dropbox offering, but that account is not tied to a @uoregon.edu email address, please contact us via the Dropbox Support page by clicking Create a Ticket. Please note that this service is not available to students.
The high-level workflow for this process is (these are steps we will need to coordinate with you):
- We will need to remove your invite to join the University of Oregon team.
- You'll then need to change your personal Dropbox account email address using the instructions here on Dropbox's website.
- We will then re-invite you to join the University of Oregon team which will give you the option to migrate.
This process must be completed within a set amount of time to prevent our routine invite processing from re-inviting you prior to your changing the email address on your account. Please submit a ticket using the link above and we'll work to schedule a time to do this.
What if I have an existing Dropbox Enterprise account?
Please contact us via the Dropbox Support page by clicking Create a Ticket with this request. These requests will need to be handled on a 1:1 basis in consult with Dropbox.com.
Can I use Dropbox for FERPA data?
If you are part of the UO Dropbox offering, then FERPA data may be stored on Dropbox. If you are using a personal Dropbox account, FERPA data may not be stored in Dropbox.
What about HIPAA data?
Currently, HIPAA data is not allowed to be stored on Dropbox. If you are using a personal Dropbox account, HIPAA data will never be allowed. If you are part of the UO Dropbox offering, HIPAA data is not yet covered under UO Dropbox. We will be making this available in the future, but do not have a date at this time.
What about other data classifications?
At this time, only Amber (Medium Risk) and/or Green data (Low Risk), as specified in the Data Security Classification Table are allowed to be stored in Dropbox.
Red (High Risk) data is not currently allowed to be stored or synced in Dropbox. If you cannot find your data within the table, please submit a ticket via the Create a Ticket button here with specific info about the type of data and someone will get back to you with an answer.
By joining the UO Dropbox team, will others have access to my data?
Your data is protected and accessible to you or others that you have provided access to. There are also some administrative tasks that might require access to the account by system administrator to perform administrative tasks, remediate security incidents or for business continuity purposes. When administrator access is performed, this actions are logged and audited.
The sign-up process asks me to agree to terms. Is that OK?
UO's agreement with Dropbox supersedes those presented to you during the sign-up process. This means you are free to click-through the agreement. Unfortunately, we are unable to hide that option during the enrollment process.
Can I share data using Dropbox?
Yes, data can be shared from your Dropbox account. See the article How to share files using Dropbox for help in sharing files and folders within Dropbox.
Please Note: UO has not limited user sharing. Users need to be aware that they could share sensitive data with people who shouldn't have access to the data being shared.
If a user has questions about data storage, data classification, or what can and cannot be stored in Dropbox, please contact the UO Information Security Office via the Create a Ticket button on the
Information Security Consulting service page.
What is the maximum single file size for Dropbox?
Dropbox limits files to 50GB when uploaded through the dropbox.com website. If using the Dropbox app on your computer, there is no file size limit. See Dropbox Quota and File Size Limits.
What is my quota for Dropbox?
See Dropbox Quota and File Size Limits.
How do I determine the size of a file or folder in my Dropbox account?
See Viewing the size of a file or folder in Dropbox.
What is Dropbox Smart Sync, and is it enabled?
Dropbox Smart Sync is enabled for all users within the UO Dropbox offering. For more information about Smart Sync, see the Dropbox documentation here: Smart Sync.
Is this replacing Microsoft OneDrive?
No.
How can I permanently delete my files?
See Permanently deleting files from Dropbox.
What if I have additional questions?
Please fill out a service request using the Create a Ticket button on the Dropbox Support service page.