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back to article FAIL.GOV – Government asks Dropbox for accounts that don't exist

Dropbox has released its transparency report for the first half of 2014 and says it's handled 120 search warrants, a pair of court orders, 109 subpoenas, between zero and 249 national-security-related requests and 37 requests from governments other than that of the USA. None of the requests pertained to business accounts. …

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  1. AustinTX

    Hah, the government engaging in fishing expeditions? Unthinked! I'm safe as long as they don't ask for "any files pertaining to one 'Santos L. Halpern'", hahahaha!

    BTW, thanks Avast! for ignoring my attempts to stop you from installing Dropbox when installing you. Russian company helping the ensa spook their own citizens!

    5 0 Reply
    1. Dan 55 Silver badge
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      I think you need to czech where that program comes from again.

      Also, Dropbox has Condi at the helm so I doubt it's going to put up that much of a fight, no matter how much they try to spin it. They probably ran the requests through the most lenient regex they had and still couldn't make anything of them.

      4 0 Reply
  2. DerekCurrie
    Facepalm

    The Good Stuff Is Encrypted, So Bite Me Surveillance State

    I hope the NSA has a nice snooze over the boring research and documentation stuff I store at sycophantic DropBox. The good stuff is encrypted with only my memory knowing the key. Fork over a REAL warrant, then I'll let you take a look. Until then, it's Fourth Amendment time, NSA and Surveillance State pals!

    Oh and bring along some coffee for reading through my encrypted stuff as well. Totally dull and innocuous, reading and analytical processing time that's a total waste of tax payer's money, like most of the crud you traitors unconstitutionally rip from We The People.

    #MyStupidGovernment in self-destruct mode. (o_O)

    11 0 Reply
    1. John Robson Silver badge
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      Re: The Good Stuff Is Encrypted, So Bite Me Surveillance State

      Just don't come to UK when failure to hand over the key is an offence with time involved.

      And of course on release you can be arrested and asked to hand over the key.

      Repeat.

      No, forgetting it is not an excuse.

      1 0 Reply
      1. Anonymous Coward
        Reply Icon
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: The Good Stuff Is Encrypted, So Bite Me Surveillance State

        Yes, forgetting it is an excuse. However just saying you've forgotten it isn't necessarily going to be believed, in which case...

        1 0 Reply
      2. SundogUK Silver badge
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        Re: The Good Stuff Is Encrypted, So Bite Me Surveillance State

        It's only an offence if you refuse to comply with a court order, which he specifically said he would comply with...

        4 0 Reply
        1. Vic
          Reply Icon

          Re: The Good Stuff Is Encrypted, So Bite Me Surveillance State

          It's only an offence if you refuse to comply with a court order

          This is not true in the UK.

          It is an offence not to comply with a Section 49 notice - which is emphatically not a court order.

          Vic.

          0 0 Reply
  3. James Micallef Silver badge

    no exact number?

    I love this phrase: "between zero and 249 national-security-related requests"

    I guess that maybe legally they are not allowed to state an exact number of requests received, so ""between zero and 249" is another way of saying "249"

    3 0 Reply
    1. ratfox
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      Re: no exact number?

      More likely, they are allowed to specify in which range by 250… like 0-249, 250-499, 500-749, etc.

      That's how Google has always reported these types of requests.

      1 0 Reply
  4. Trigonoceps occipitalis

    WRONG ACCOUNTS

    If 7% of requests were for accounts that didn't exist, how many identified accounts were requests for the wrong person's data?

    3 0 Reply
    1. Hargrove
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      Re: WRONG ACCOUNTS

      In the spirit of how these things appear to be reported, between 0 and 93%.

      Overall I suspect the batting average is extremely low. This, as TO's post implies, is arguably the more important statistic, since innocent people are affected by mistakes.

      (Those who govern never have to say they're sorry. Remember Miriam Carey?)

      1 0 Reply

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