Dropbox data storage - managed by Physics IT Services

Following the termination of the UIS Dropbox service, Physics IT Services are now offering a successor Dropbox service (“Dropbox PHY”) to all users across the University.

We are only offering the Advanced+ level of Dropbox account with data hosting in the UK. Dropbox Standard accounts have data hosted in the USA and lack many other significant features such as ransomware detection and recovery, so we are not supporting that account level as a matter of IT security policy.

The pricing previously offered by UIS for Dropbox is no longer available. We are not receiving any discounts from Dropbox on their published pricing, and we are required to cover internal IT and Finance costs on the management and administration of the service. There are two standard account options:

We welcome enquiries from people requiring more data, but will need to discuss each case individually.

How Dropbox managed by Physics compares to alternatives

Broadly, Dropbox provides a solution for customers who want to store more than 1TB of data and share files with collaborators outside the University, and doing this via the Physics-managed Dropbox account will provide UK data hosting and important security features that are not available on lower-levels of Dropbox accounts (see more below under “Maintaining your own separate Dropbox service”).

Joining Dropbox PHY

If you wish to join our managed Dropbox service, please complete a Dropbox storage request form. You don’t have to be a member of Physics to join our Dropbox service.

Maintaining your own separate Dropbox service

You are free to set up or maintain your own separate Dropbox service, but please note: 

• That if your account value is less than $10,000 USD per year, your data will be hosted in the USA by Dropbox.

• That if you choose Plus, Standard or Professional levels of Dropbox accounts - your files will not have:

  • Ransomware detection and recovery

  • Suspicious activity alerts

  • End-to-end encryption ("Files are encrypted on user's device before they are securely synced with Dropbox servers. No one - not even Dropbox - can decrypt the file or access your private key.")

  • 1 year of account recovery and version history

  • 1 year of deleted files recovery

• Under the University's IT Acceptable Use Policy ‘Users must not use a private (i.e. non-@cam or -@<[sub-]domain>.cam) email account or private social media account to handle University or College personal or otherwise sensitive data’.

• And for users in Physics, note that you are advised to avoid credit card purchases and expense claims for Dropbox in all but extreme cases due to the additional work this involves.