Dropbox moves customers to Ireland but won’t say why #dropbox #privacy #metadata

If you are a Dropbox user outside of North America you will soon be a customer of “Dropbox Ireland” instead of Dropbox United States.

Dropbox says these “changes to better serve our users around the world” but strangely doesn’t say how they are better. Dropbox follows a recent move by Twitter and is staying quiet as to why its is moving its international users to its Irish service but its likely to be for multiple reasons.

Email notice to users
Dropbox’s email notice to users about the move to Ireland

1. Ireland is a low tax nation

The first reason is that Ireland is a low tax nation state that allows multinational companies, especially techs, to reduce their tax.  Some of the biggest companies in the world, including Apple and Google, have “operations” in Ireland to take advantage of its low corporate taxes, with effective tax rates from 15 percent to as low as 2 percent.

It’s not implausible that Dropbox is following Apple’s and Google’s lead to lower the tax its pays.  How this works is explained at this Irish business journal: businessetc.thejournal.ie/explainer-irish-corporation-tax-715761-Dec2012/

2. Ireland protects data from foreign government surveillance

Moving international Dropbox users away from Dropbox United States also removes users’ data from the pervasive surveillance of the United States National Security Agency (NSA) and other agencies caught out spying on your data. With other countries like Australia, United Kingdom, France, Germany and more enacting (or considering) metadata retention laws, moving international users to Ireland also protects customers from the data surveillance of their home countries.

3. Ireland’s privacy regulator is considered soft

Whilst moving to Ireland might help protect users against government surveillance, the trade-off is that there is less data privacy protection in Ireland against corporate surveillance.  Ireland data privacy regulator has been criticised as underfunded with regulations much softer than the United States and other European Union (EU) countries.  The EU is looking at creating a “European Data Protection Board” for users to take their case if they are not happy with rulings from Ireland or any other European data privacy regulator.

What does Dropbox say?

Dropbox has very little to say why it has moved international users to Dropbox Ireland.  Below is an extract of their notice from the Dropbox website:

“The Dropbox Terms of Service change—what is it, and what does it mean for me?

If you’re a user living outside of North America (the United States, Canada, and Mexico), we’re updating our Terms of Service to better serve you and the growing number of Dropbox users around the world. These changes include the fact that we’ll be providing our services (including Dropbox, Dropbox for Business, Carousel, and Mailbox) to you via Dropbox Ireland.

You can learn more by reading our updated Terms of Service, or read below for answers to frequently asked questions (FAQs) regarding this change.

Will this change affect the way I use Dropbox?

No, you should experience no change in the application, and you will not need to do anything differently.

When will the change take effect?

The updated Terms of Service will go into effect for users living outside North America as follows:

  • For users who had Dropbox accounts before May 1st, 2015, the updates will go into effect on June 1, 2015
  • For users signing up for new Dropbox accounts or upgrading to Pro on May 1st, 2015 or later, the updates will be effective as of the date of sign-up or upgrade

What if I have a Dropbox for Business account and have third-party integrations?

There are no technical changes to how our services work, so you’ll be able to continue using them as you have before.

Can I move to Dropbox Ireland Terms of Service if I’m based in the US, Mexico, or Canada?

No. Our updated Terms of Service currently only apply to users living outside of North America.” 

 

 

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