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1 Before the Federal Trade Commission Washington, DC 20580 In the Matter of ) ) Dropbox, Inc. ) May 11, 2011 REQUEST FOR INVESTIGATION AND COMPLAINT FOR INJUNCTIVE RELIEF SUMMARY 1. Dropbox has prominently advertised the security of its “cloud” backup, sync and file sharing service, which is now used by more than 25 million consumers, many of whom “rely on Dropbox to take care of their most important information.” 1 2. Dropbox does not employ industry best practices regarding the use of encryption technology. Specifically, Dropbox’s employees have the ability to access its customers’ unencrypted files. 3. Dropbox has and continues to make deceptive statements to consumers regarding the extent to which it protects and encrypts their data. 4. Dropbox’s customers face an increased risk of data breach and identity theft because their data is not encrypted according to industry best practices. 5. If Dropbox disclosed the full details regarding its data security practices, some of its customers might switch to competing cloud based services that do deploy industry best practices regarding encryption, protect their own data with 3 rd party encryption tools, or decide against cloud based backups completely. 6. Dropbox’s misrepresentations are a Deceptive Trade Practice, subject to review by the Federal Trade Commission (the “Commission”) under section 5 of The Federal Trade Commission Act. 1 Drew Houston and Arash Ferdowsi, Privacy, Security & Your Dropbox, The Dropbox Blog, April 21, 2011, available at http://blog.dropbox.com/?p=735

Before the Federal Trade Commission Washington, DC 20580 ... · 5/11/2011 · complaint, Dropbox’s course of business, including the acts and practices alleged herein, has been

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1

BeforetheFederalTradeCommissionWashington,DC20580

IntheMatterof ) )Dropbox,Inc. )

May11,2011

REQUESTFORINVESTIGATIONANDCOMPLAINTFORINJUNCTIVERELIEF

SUMMARY

1. Dropboxhasprominentlyadvertisedthesecurityofits“cloud”backup,syncandfilesharingservice,whichisnowusedbymorethan25millionconsumers,manyofwhom“relyonDropboxtotakecareoftheirmostimportantinformation.”1

2. Dropboxdoesnotemployindustrybestpracticesregardingtheuseofencryptiontechnology.Specifically,Dropbox’semployeeshavetheabilitytoaccessitscustomers’unencryptedfiles.

3. Dropboxhasandcontinuestomakedeceptivestatementstoconsumersregardingtheextenttowhichitprotectsandencryptstheirdata.

4. Dropbox’scustomersfaceanincreasedriskofdatabreachandidentitytheft

becausetheirdataisnotencryptedaccordingtoindustrybestpractices.

5. IfDropboxdisclosedthefulldetailsregardingitsdatasecuritypractices,someofitscustomersmightswitchtocompetingcloudbasedservicesthatdodeployindustrybestpracticesregardingencryption,protecttheirowndatawith3rdpartyencryptiontools,ordecideagainstcloudbasedbackupscompletely.

6. Dropbox’smisrepresentationsareaDeceptiveTradePractice,subjecttoreviewbytheFederalTradeCommission(the“Commission”)undersection5ofTheFederalTradeCommissionAct.

1DrewHoustonandArashFerdowsi,Privacy,Security&YourDropbox,TheDropboxBlog,April21,2011,availableathttp://blog.dropbox.com/?p=735

2

PARTIES

7. ChristopherSoghoianisaWashington,D.C.basedGraduateFellowattheCenterforAppliedCybersecurityResearchatIndianaUniversity,andaPh.D.CandidateintheSchoolofInformaticsandComputingatIndianaUniversity.Hisresearchisfocusedattheintersectionofsecurity,privacy,lawandpolicy.Thiscomplaintissubmittedinhispersonalcapacity.

8. Dropbox,Inc.("Dropbox")wasfoundedin2007andisbasedinSanFrancisco,California.Dropbox’sheadquartersarelocatedat760MarketStreet#1150,SanFrancisco,CA94102.Atalltimesmaterialtothiscomplaint,Dropbox’scourseofbusiness,includingtheactsandpracticesallegedherein,hasbeenandisinoraffectingcommerce,as"commerce"isdefinedinSection4oftheFederalTradeCommissionAct,15U.S.C.§45.

STATEMENTOFFACTS

9. Dropboxisafilebackup,synchronizationandsharingserviceenablinguserstostoretheirphotos,documentsandotherfiles“inthecloud.”

10. Dropbox’ssoftwareautomaticallybacksupfilesfromuser‐specifieddirectoriesontothecompany’sservers.Thesefilesandfolderscanbesynchronizedbetweenmultiplecomputersandsharedwithotherusers.

11. AsofApril2011,Dropboxisreportedtohave25millionusersand200

millionfilesare“saved”usingtheserviceeachday.2

12. Dropboxprovides2GBofstoragespacetoitscustomersforfree.Consumerscanpurchaseadditionalstoragespace,bysigningupforoneoftwo“Pro”serviceplans,offering50GBfor$9.99/monthor$99.00/year,and100GBfor$19.99/monthor$199.00/year.3

DROPBOXPROMINENTLYADVERTISESTHESECURITYANDSAFETYOFITSSERVICE

13. Onthe“install”pageontheDropboxwebsite,visitorsaretoldthat“Yourfiles

arealwayssafe.”42MichaelArrington,DropboxHits25MillionsUsers,200MillionFilesPerDay,TechCrunch,April17,2011,availableathttp://techcrunch.com/2011/04/17/dropbox‐hits‐25‐millions‐users‐200‐million‐files‐per‐day/.3https://www.dropbox.com/plans4https://www.dropbox.com/install

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DROPBOX’SSERVICEDOESNOTPROVIDESTRONGSECURITY

16. TheAdvancedEncryptionStandard(AES)wasannouncedbyNationalInstituteofStandardsandTechnology(NIST)aftera5‐yearstandardizationprocessinwhichfifteencompetingdesignswerepresentedandevaluated.7

17. TheAESstandardiscomprisedofthreedifferentencryptionciphers(AES‐128,AES‐192,AES‐256),withkeysizesof128,192and256bits,respectively.

18. AESisthefirstpubliclyaccessibleandopencipherapprovedbytheNationalSecurityAgency(NSA)fortopsecretinformation(whenthe192or256bitkeylengthsareused).8

19. DropboxusesAES‐256,thehigheststrengthoftheAEScipherstoencryptuserdataonitsservers.9Withregardtoitschoiceofencryptionalgorithmforstoreduserdata,Dropboxfollowsindustrybestpracticesanddoesindeed“usethesamesecuremethodsasbanksandthemilitary.”10

20. Thechoiceofencryptionalgorithmsisanimportantcomponentinthesecurityofasystem.However,equallyimportantisthestorageandmanagementofthekeysusedtoencryptdata.

21. Thekeysusedtoencryptusers’dataareknowntosomeDropboxemployeesandstoredonthecompany’sservers.11

22. Dropbox’suseandstorageofencryptionkeysdoesnotfollowbestpracticesforthe“cloud”backupindustry.12Severalcompetingservices,suchas

7Seegenerally:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advanced_Encryption_Standard_process8LynnHathaway,"NationalPolicyontheUseoftheAdvancedEncryptionStandard(AES)toProtectNationalSecuritySystemsandNationalSecurityInformation",June2003,availableathttp://csrc.nist.gov/groups/ST/toolkit/documents/aes/CNSS15FS.pdf9“HowSecureisDropbox”availableathttps://www.dropbox.com/help/2710Id.11Postby“N.N”,Dropboxemployee,inDropboxsupportforum,http://forums.dropbox.com/topic.php?id=3908#post‐27169(“Currentlythereisonlyonekey,thattheDBteamhas.Notthemostidealsituation,granted,buttherehasbeendiscussionaboutenablingprivatekeysforpeople.(Notethatthiswillbreakthe"quickupload"featureforfilesnotalreadyinyouraccount.)”12TheOpenWebApplicationSecurityProject(OWASP),GuidetoCryptography,availableathttps://www.owasp.org/index.php/Guide_to_Cryptography(“Thestrengthofacryptographicsystemismeasuredinkeylength.Usingalargekey

6

SpiderOak13andWuala,14encryptusers’data,bydefault,withakeyonlyknowntoeachuser.Thesecompetingcompaniesdonothavetheabilitytoaccesstheircustomers’unencrypteddata.

23. RespondingtoaqueryfromacustomerontheofficialsupportforumregardingtheencryptionkeysandsecurityofDropbox’sarchitecture,ArashFerdowsi,thecompany’sCTOrevealedthat:

“Theonly100%safeoptionwithanyonlinestoragesolutionis(asyousaid)toencryptonyourown.[M]anydropboxusersusetruecryptwithnoproblems:‐).”15

24. AlthoughMrFerdowsihasacknowledgedinthesupportforumthathiscompany’sserviceisnot“100%safe,”16thecompanyprominentlyadvertisestoconsumersthat“[y]ourfilesarealwayssafe”whenstoredwiththeservice.17

25. OnApril1,2011,MarciaHofmannoftheElectronicFrontierFoundationcontactedDropboxonmybehalf.18Amongthesuggestionswemadetothecompanywerethefollowing:

a. Updatethestatementsmadeonitswebsitetodisclosedetailsregardingthecompany’suseofencryption,andthefactthatithastheabilitytoaccessusers’data.

b. Notifyitscustomersbyemailtoletthemknowthattheserviceisnotinfactencryptingtheirdatawithakeyonlyknowntotheuser.

c. Switchtoamodelofencryptinguserdatawithakeyonlyknownto

theuser.

lengthandthenstoringtheunprotectedkeysonthesameservereliminatesmostoftheprotectionbenefitgained.”)13NutsandBolts,Spideroak,availableathttps://spideroak.com/engineering_matters.14SecurityandPrivacy,FAQ,Wuala,availableat.http://www.wuala.com/en/support/faq/c/20;Security,Wuala,availableathttp://www.wuala.com/en/learn/technology.15ArashF.,PosttoSupportforumthread“Files:Encryptedornot?”,http://forums.dropbox.com/topic.php?id=17666#post‐10967216Id.17Dropboxinstallpage,https://www.dropbox.com/install.18EmailfromMarciaHofmanntoArashFerdowsi,April1,2011.

7

26. OnApril12th,2011,IpublishedaposttomybloghighlightingprivacyproblemsassociatedwithDropbox’sservice.19Soonafter,prominentbloggersandmembersofthetechnologypresswroteaboutthetopic.20

DISCLOSURESBYDROPBOXSINCEAPRIL13th,2011AREINSUFFICIENT

27. InresponsetoMarciaHofmann’semail,myblogpost,andthesubsequentpressattention,Dropboxmodifiedseveralstatementsmadeontheirwebsite.

28. OnoraroundApril14th,2011,oneofthestatementsonthe“HowSecureis

Dropbox”pageinthe“HelpCenter”sectionofDropbox’swebsitewaschangedfrom“AllfilesstoredonDropboxserversareencrypted(AES‐256)andareinaccessiblewithoutyouraccountpassword”to“AllfilesstoredonDropboxserversareencrypted(AES‐256).”

29. OnApril23,2011,the“HowSecureisDropbox”pagewasagainmodified.

a. Thefollowingstatementwasremovedentirely:“Onlineaccesstoyourfilesrequiresyourusernameandpassword.”

b. Thestatement“NobodycanseeyourprivatefilesinDropboxunlessyoudeliberatelyinvitethemorputtheminyourPublicfolder”wasmodifiedtobe“OtherDropboxuserscan'tseeyourprivatefilesinDropboxunlessyoudeliberatelyinvitethemorputtheminyourPublicfolder.”

c. Thestatement“Dropboxemployeesaren’tabletoaccessuserfiles,

andwhentroubleshootinganaccounttheyonlyhaveaccesstofile19ChristopherSoghoian,HowDropboxsacrificesuserprivacyforcostsavings,SlightParanoia,April12,2011,availableathttp://paranoia.dubfire.net/2011/04/how‐dropbox‐sacrifices‐user‐privacy‐for.html20CoryDoctorow,Dropbox'snewsecuritypolicyimpliesthattheyliedaboutprivacyfromthestart–UPDATED,BoingBoing,April21,2011,availableathttp://boingboing.net/2011/04/21/dropboxs‐new‐securit.html;MigueldeIcaza,DropboxLackofSecurity,PersonalBlog,April19,2011,availableathttp://tirania.org/blog/archive/2011/Apr‐19.html;KlintFinley,HowtoKeepDropboxEmployees'HandsOffYourData,ReadWriteCloud,April20,2011,availableathttp://www.readwriteweb.com/cloud/2011/04/how‐to‐keep‐dropbox‐employees.php;ErikSherman,“AtDropbox,EvenWeCan’tSeeYourDat–Er,Nevermind”[Update],BNET,availableathttp://www.bnet.com/blog/technology‐business/‐8220at‐dropbox‐even‐we‐can‐8217t‐see‐your‐dat‐8211‐er‐nevermind‐8221‐update/10077.

8

metadata(filenames,filesizes,etc,notthefilecontents)”wasmodifiedtoread“DropboxemployeesareprohibitedfromviewingthecontentoffilesyoustoreinyourDropboxaccount,andareonlypermittedtoviewfilemetadata(e.g.,filenamesandlocations).”

d. Anewstatementwasalsoaddedtothepage:

“Likemostonlineservices,wehaveasmallnumberofemployeeswhomustbeabletoaccessuserdataforthereasonsstatedinourprivacypolicy(e.g.,whenlegallyrequiredtodoso).Butthat’stherareexception,nottherule.Wehavestrictpolicyandtechnicalaccesscontrolsthatprohibitemployeeaccessexceptintheserarecircumstances.Inaddition,weemployanumberofphysicalandelectronicsecuritymeasurestoprotectuserinformationfromunauthorizedaccess.”

30. Althoughthecompanyhasaddedsomeclarifyingdisclosurestoitswebsite,

thefirmcontinuestomakeunqualifiedclaimsregardingthesafetyandsecurityofitsserviceonthe“Features”and“Install”pagesonitssite,bothofwhicharelinkedtofromthehomepage,andfarmorelikelytobeviewedbytheaverageuserthanthewebsite’s“HelpCenter”.

31. Dropboxhasnotcontactedits25millionexistingcustomerstoletthemknowaboutthechangestoitsprivacypolicy,orthefactthatthecompanydoesinfacthaveaccesstotheirunencrypteddata.

DROPBOXHASMISLEADITSCUSTOMERSREGARDINGTHEEXTENTTOWHICH

THEIRDATAISPROTECTED

32. OnApril21,2011,Dropbox’sCTOandCEOpublishedaposttocompany’s

officialblogregardingtheextenttowhichthecompanyhasaccesstouserdata.21

33. Commentsleftatthebottomofthatblogpostandinthecompany’ssupport

forummakeitclearthatsomeofDropbox’scustomers(including“Pro”userswhohavepaidfortheservice)wereupset,andfeltthatthecompanyhadliedtothem.22

21DrewHoustonandArashFerdowsi,Privacy,Security&YourDropbox,TheDropboxBlog,April21,2011,availableathttp://blog.dropbox.com/?p=73522CommentbyBrentC.,availableathttp://forums.dropbox.com/topic.php?id=36814#post‐312492;CommentbyJoshuaP.,availableat

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uploadafile,andusesstrongAES256encryptionforthedatayoustorewithinthecloud.”25

DROPBOX’SUSEOFACOMONENCRYPTIONKEYKNOWNTOTHECOMPANY

UNNECESSARILYEXPOSESITSCUSTOMERSTORISK

37. IntheirApril21,2001blogpost,Dropbox’sCEOandCTOhaveacknowledgedthatsomeoftheiremployeeshavetheabilitytoaccessusers’unencrypteddata:

“Likemostmajoronlineservices,wehaveasmallnumberofemployeeswhomustbeabletoaccessuserdatawhenlegallyrequiredtodoso.Butthat’stheexception,nottherule.Wehavestrictpolicyandtechnicalaccesscontrolsthatprohibitemployeeaccessexceptintheserarecircumstances.”26

38. “Insider”attacksareamajorsourceofprivacyviolationsanddatabreaches.EmployeesatGoogle,27Facebook,28theStateDepartment,29andKaiserPermanente30haveallreportedlyaccessedtheprivatefilesofcustomers.

39. AlthoughDropbox’spoliciesprohibititsemployeesfromaccessingusers’unencrypteddataexceptwhenlegallycompelledtodoso,31similarpolicieslikelyexistedatGoogle,FacebookandKaiserPermanente.

40. Inadditiontothethreatofrogueemployees,Dropboxhasexposeditsusers

tounnecessaryriskofdatatheftbyhackerswho,iftheybreakintothe25RobertVamosi,ProtectYourOnlinePrivacy(WithoutReadingAlltheFinePrint),PCWorld,March30,2011,availableathttp://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/221104/protect_your_online_privacy_without_reading_all_the_fine_print.html26DrewHoustonandArashFerdowsi,Privacy,Security&YourDropbox,TheDropboxBlog,April21,2011,availableathttp://blog.dropbox.com/?p=73527AdrianChen,GCreep:GoogleEngineerStalkedTeens,SpiedonChats(Updated),Gawker,September14,2010,availableathttp://gawker.com/#!563723428RyanTate,WhyYouShouldn’tTrustFacebookwithYourData:AnEmployee’sRevelations,Gawker,January11,2010,availableathttp://gawker.com/#!5445592/why‐you‐shouldnt‐trust‐facebook‐with‐your‐data‐an‐employees‐revelations29Passportfilesofcandidatesbreached,AssociatedPress,March21,2008,availableathttp://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23736254/30KaiserPermanenteBellflowerMedicalCenter,AssociatedPress,March31,2009,availableathttp://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,511721,00.html31DrewHoustonandArashFerdowsi,Privacy,Security&YourDropbox,TheDropboxBlog,April21,2011,availableathttp://blog.dropbox.com/?p=735

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company’sservers,maybeabletostealusers’dataandthekeysnecessaryfordecryption.

41. RecenthighprofiledatabreachesexperiencedbyRSA,32Comodo,33and

Lastpass34demonstratethathackersareincreasinglysophisticated,andarenowseekingouthigh‐valueinfrastructuretargetsthatcandelivermorethanjustafewmillioncreditcardnumbers.

42. IfDropboxencrypteditsusers’datawithakeyonlyknowntoeachuser,itwouldnotbepossibleforrogueemployeestosnooponusers’data,orforhackerswhohadbrokenintothecompany’sserverstogetaccesstouser’unencrypteddata.

DROPBOX’SMISLEADINGSTATEMENTSABOUTENCRYPTIONGIVEITANUNFAIRADVANTAGEOVERCOMPETINGCLOUDBACKUPSERVICESTHATDO

PROTECTTHEIRCUSTOMER’SDATA

43. SeveralofDropbox’scompetitorsdoinfactencryptuserdatawithakeyonlyknowntothatuser.ThesefirmspayhigherbandwidthandstoragecoststhanDropbox,astheydonotdeduplicatedataacrossuseraccounts.35

44. Dropboxanditscompetitorsallmentiontheiruseof“encryption”whenmarketingthesecurityoftheirproducts.EspeciallypriortoApril2011,theaverage,non‐technicalconsumerwouldhavenowayofknowingthat

32JohnMarkoff,SecurIDCompanySuffersaBreachofDataSecurity,TheNewYorkTimes,March17,2011,availableathttps://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/18/technology/18secure.html33RivaRichmond,AnAttackShedsLightonInternetSecurityHoles,TheNewYorkTimes,April6,2011,availableathttps://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/07/technology/07hack.html34AmyGahran,Password‐storingservicemayhavebeenhacked,CNN,May5,2011,availableathttp://www.cnn.com/2011/TECH/web/05/05/last.pass.gahran/35DannyHarnik,BennyPinkasandAlexandraShulman‐PelegSideChannelsinCloudServices,theCaseofDeduplicationinCloudStorageIEEESecurityandPrivacyMagazine,specialissueofCloudSecurity,Vol.8,No.2,pp.40‐47,2010.(“Bystoringandtransmittingonlyasinglecopyofduplicatedata,deduplicationsavesbothdiskspaceandnetworkbandwidth.Forvendors[likeDropbox],itofferssecondarycostsavingsinpowerandcoolingachievedbyreducingthenumberofdiskspindles.”);Seealso,AlanFairless,WhySpiderOakdoesn'tde‐duplicatedataacrossusers(andwhyitshouldworryyouifwedid),SpideroakBlog,August27,2010,availableathttps://spideroak.com/blog/20100827150530‐why‐spideroak‐doesnt‐de‐duplicate‐data‐across‐users‐and‐why‐it‐should‐worry‐you‐if‐we‐did

13

Dropbox’suseofAES‐256encryptionissignificantlyinferiortothatofitscompetitors.

45. Theseotherfirmsareunfairlyplacedatacompetitivedisadvantage.Dropbox

usesthesameterminologytomarketthesecurityofitsproducts,buthasloweroperatingcosts,duetoitsinferiorsecurity.

46. IftheCommissionwishesforcompaniestoembracePrivacybyDesign,36it

mustguaranteethatthosefirmsthatpayacostfordoingsoareabletoeffectivelycompeteinthemarket.THISISNOTANISOLATEDISSUE:DROPBOXHASALSODECEIVEDITS

USERSREGARDINGTHESECURITYOFITSMOBILECLIENT

47. Untilmid‐March,2011,the“HowSecureisDropbox”pageinthe“HelpCenter”sectionofDropbox’swebsitepageincludedthefollowingstatement:

"Alltransmissionoffiledataandmetadataoccursoveranencryptedchannel(SSL)."

48. Contrarytotheseunqualifiedclaims,thecompanyisinfactnotusingSSLencryptiontotransmitallfiledataandmetadata.OnMarch10,2011,technologistMikeCardwellrevealedthatDropbox’sAndroidmobileclientisnotusingSSLtotransmitfilemetadatatoDropbox’sservers.37

49. WhenMr.CardwellcontactedDropbox’ssupportteamtoaskaboutthevalidityoftheclaimonthecompany’swebsite,hewastoldthat:

“TheinformationinthehelpcenterisinrelationtotheDropboxdesktopandwebsiteanddoesn'tapplytothemobileinterface.I'msorrythatthisisn'tmoreclearlydefined.Iwilldiscussthisfurtherwithourmobileteamtoseeifwecanoffertheoptionoftotaltransmissionencryptiononthephoneandupdatethisdocumenttoreflectthecurrentstatusofmetadatatransmission.”

36Seegenerally,ProtectingConsumerPrivacyinanEraofRapidChange:AProposedFrameworkforBusinessesandConsumers,PreliminaryFTCStaffReport,December2,2010,availableathttp://www.ftc.gov/os/2010/12/101201privacyreport.pdf37MikeCardwell,DropboxMobile:LessSecureThanDropboxDesktop,PosttoGrepularBlog,March10,2011,availableathttps://grepular.com/Dropbox_Mobile_Less_Secure_Than_Dropbox_Desktop

14

50. TheApril2011blogpostbyDropbox’sCEOandCTOalsoacknowledgedthatthecompanyhadoptedtotradesecurityforperformanceonthemobileclient:

“Wemadethisdecisiontoprovidebetterperformance(inourtesting,enablingSSLforallmetadatatransfersmadetheappseveraltimesslower).We’velistenedtotheseconcerns,andareworkingonafasterwaytotransmitmetadataoverSSLonthemobileapps.”

DROPBOX’SSTATEMENTSABOUTENCRYPTIONAREADECEPTIVEBUSINESSPRACTICE

51. AccordingtotheFTCPolicyStatementonDeception,38therearethreeelementstoanydeceptioncase.

a. Theremustbearepresentation,omissionorpracticethatislikelytomisleadtheconsumer.

b. Thepracticemustbedeceptivefromtheperspectiveoftheaverageconsumer.

c. Therepresentation,omission,orpracticemustbea"material"one,

andthuswhethertheactorpracticeislikelytoaffecttheconsumer'sconductordecisionwithregardtoaproductorservice.

52. Asdocumentedearlierinthiscomplaint,the“HowSecureisDropbox”pageinthe“HelpCenter”sectiononDropbox’swebsiteincludedseveralmisleadingstatementsuntilthepagewasmodifiedinApril,2011.Theseincluded:

a. “AllfilesstoredonDropboxserversareencrypted(AES‐256)andareinaccessiblewithoutyouraccountpassword.”

b. “NobodycanseeyourprivatefilesinDropboxunlessyoudeliberatelyinvitethemorputtheminyourPublicfolder.”

c. “Dropboxemployeesaren’tabletoaccessuserfiles,andwhen

troubleshootinganaccounttheyonlyhaveaccesstofilemetadata(filenames,filesizes,etc,notthefilecontents).”

38FTCPolicyStatementonDeception,October14,1983,availableathttp://www.ftc.gov/bcp/policystmt/ad‐decept.htm

15

d. “YourfilesareactuallysaferwhilestoredinyourDropboxthanonyourcomputerinsomecases.”

53. Thecompanycontinuestomisleadconsumersonthe“Install”and“Features”pagesonitswebsite.Bytellingconsumersthattheirdatais“alwayssafe,”andthatthedataisencryptedwithAES‐256withoutinformingthemthatthecompanyhasaccesstothekeyusedtodecryptit,thecompanyisomittingamaterialfactregardingthedegreeofsecurityandprivacydeliveredbytheservice.

54. HadDropboxnotmadethesedeceptivestatements,itscustomersmighthaveoptedtoprotecttheirdatabyusingacompetingcloudbasedbackupservicethatencryptstheirdatawithakeyonlyknowntothem,byusing3rdpartyencryptiontools,oroptingtonotstoretheirsensitivedatainthecloudatall.

REQUESTFORRELIEFIrequestthattheCommissioninvestigateDropboxandenjoinitsdeceptivebusinesspractices.Specifically,IrequestthattheCommission:

a. CompelDropboxtoclarifyexistingstatementsonthe“Install”and

“Features”sectionsofitswebsitetonotethatthecompanydoesinfacthaveaccesstousers’unencrypteddataandthatadatabreachofthecompany’sserverscouldleadtothetheftofusers’unencrypteddata.

b. CompelDropboxtocontactits25millionexistingcustomersbyemailtonotifythemthatithasaccesstotheirunencrypteddataandtosuggestspecificstepstheycantaketosecureit(suchasbyusing3rdpartyencryptionsoftware).

c. CompelDropboxtoofferrefundstoanyonethathaspurchasedits

“Pro”servicethatfeltmisleadbythecompany’sstatementsregardingsecurity.

d. ProhibitDropboxfrommakingdeceptivestatementsinthefuture

regardingtheprivacyandsecurityofitsservices.

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Ireservetherighttosupplementthispetitionasotherinformationrelevanttothisproceedingbecomesavailable.

Respectfullysubmitted, /s/

ChristopherSoghoian