Dropbox has rewritten its Terms of Service, Privacy Policy and Dropbox Services Agreement, and the new versions take effect Jan. 1. The changes most users will notice: Dropbox will be for adults only, free accounts can be closed after six months without use, and one login will soon reach several personal and team workspaces.
The company summarized the updates in a blog post that links to the full Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.
Changes for individual users
Dropbox says it has “clarified that Dropbox may now only be used by those over 18.” The terms also change the inactivity period before Dropbox may terminate a non-paying account to six consecutive months, and the company says it will continue to give notice before doing so. People who rely on a free account for occasional storage will want to sign in more often or export files they care about.
The terms also update Dropbox’s policies on refunds, the notice period for fee changes and what users must do if they don’t agree to future updates, and they clarify what happens when someone uses a corporate email address to join a non-team plan.
One login, several workspaces
The biggest functional change is a coming feature that lets users reach multiple individual and team workspaces with a single account. The revised terms explain what using it means, and the privacy policy adds detail on how data is handled across those workspaces, including what team admins can see. For IT teams, that last point is worth reading closely before employees start linking personal and work spaces under one sign-in.
The privacy policy also explains more specifically which data is used for which purposes and adds details on how users can appeal Dropbox’s decisions about handling their data.
Business customers
Under the Dropbox Services Agreement, which covers business customers, Dropbox has clarified both parties’ right to disclose confidential information during certain regulatory audits, changed the scope of indemnification in cases of misuse, and updated what happens when a customer is acquired or goes through a change of control. The company says it also made stylistic and structural edits for clarity.
The updates follow a leadership change at the top. Founder Drew Houston stepped down as CEO earlier this year and said he wants to start something new in AI, The Verge reported.
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