Can I password protect a single dropbox folder?
January 14, 2016 8:56 AM Subscribe
I have a Dropbox account that syncs to my work computer. It has a personnel folder. Occasionally, work staff need access to my laptop, like install programs. How can I give these tech-savvy staffers access to admin-level privileges on this machine while securing the personnel subfolder? In my ideal solution, they could log in under my username and access most Dropbox files, but they (or I or anyone) accessing the personnel folder would have to enter a password. Is this possible?
Response by poster: I use some files in these folders a lot, so that sounds cumbersome. (Am I wrong?) I could zip and encrypt the most sensitive info -- the MOST sensitive isn't even stored on my computer -- but there are also frequently-used files that aren't extremely sensitive legally but still contain notes that other staff shouldn't see.
posted by slidell at 9:08 AM on January 14, 2016
posted by slidell at 9:08 AM on January 14, 2016
If they have admin access to the machine they will always be able to read your private files -- for example, they could set up a remote access server and then log in while you're reading them. So you'll only ever protect from idle eyes or people not trying too hard.
That said, the usual solution is to make an encrypted volume (veracrypt, truecrypt, encfs, ...) and store that in your Dropbox. You can "mount" these volumes as a local drive on your computer and they work transparently, but if you ever dismount them then a password is required to bring them back.
posted by katrielalex at 9:30 AM on January 14, 2016
That said, the usual solution is to make an encrypted volume (veracrypt, truecrypt, encfs, ...) and store that in your Dropbox. You can "mount" these volumes as a local drive on your computer and they work transparently, but if you ever dismount them then a password is required to bring them back.
posted by katrielalex at 9:30 AM on January 14, 2016
If you're on a Mac, you could use an encrypted DMG (disk image) file.
posted by neckro23 at 9:49 AM on January 14, 2016 [3 favorites]
posted by neckro23 at 9:49 AM on January 14, 2016 [3 favorites]
Is it necessary for them to access some of your dropbox files while installing software on your computer?
If not, set dropbox to use two-factor authentication, then, when workstaff need to access your laptop, temporarily unlink the laptop from dropbox. (But if your dropbox folder has local copies of sensitive files on the laptop HDD, then that's another issue and goes beyond dropbox. You'll want disk encryption for that.)
posted by anonymisc at 11:59 AM on January 14, 2016
If not, set dropbox to use two-factor authentication, then, when workstaff need to access your laptop, temporarily unlink the laptop from dropbox. (But if your dropbox folder has local copies of sensitive files on the laptop HDD, then that's another issue and goes beyond dropbox. You'll want disk encryption for that.)
posted by anonymisc at 11:59 AM on January 14, 2016
Response by poster: This temporary unlinking sounds like it might be the simplest solution. Is that the same as "selective sync?"
posted by slidell at 5:42 PM on January 14, 2016
posted by slidell at 5:42 PM on January 14, 2016
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posted by Karaage at 9:00 AM on January 14, 2016