Dropbox bug caused permanent data loss.

Published on October 13, 2014 By DrJBHL In Personal Computing

Another good reason to keep your apps updated:

“The company has confirmed that a bug in an older version of its desktop apps could lead to files being deleted permanently, without the user’s knowledge or consent. The problem is related to Selective Sync, which allows users to only synchronize some important folders across machines.” – Neowin

Anyway, at least dropbox is trying to recover the lost data and reimburse the users who lost stuff. It’s not clear, though if that’s only for folks who had paid storage (i.e. refunding money for subscriptions) or not. Folks are getting a year’s Pro subscription service free. That counts for something, at least. They also say that the newer versions have fixed the fault.

Also, this didn’t happen to everyone, so check whatever you stored there. Also, use some redundancy: Most important stuff if in the cloud, also on a removable HDD. Personal stuff (financial, etc.) NEVER in the Cloud.

Source:

http://www.engadget.com/2014/10/13/dropbox-selective-sync-bug/

Comments

LightStar

on Oct 13, 2014

Better yet Doc, for the money you would have to pay for a cloud service a year, just go get your own personal cloud drive for the home. I have a 4TB Western Digital I can access from anywhere, even from my cellphone. I would never put anything on a cloud service and make them richer.

DrJBHL

on Oct 13, 2014

True enough, Tom...just wrote it so folks would check what they have there...

RedneckDude

on Oct 13, 2014

I hardly store anything on Dropbox, I mostly use it for file transfer, temporary storage.

psychoak

on Oct 13, 2014

Dropbox is very good for people that live in the middle of nowhere. I can't just set up my own remote access, it's still going to be on my crappo 3/1mbit connection. Efficient distribution requires more bandwidth than some people can physically get. Short of spending a few grand a month for T3 access, a remote service is necessary for me.

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