Access to a file after logging out

As I said earlier — just opening a Word file (online) automatically adds links for editing and viewing. If I then manually remove both links, this no longer happens; even if I open the exact same file in the exact same way, the links are not created.

I even created a new folder and a new Microsoft Word document in it – using the Create option inside Dropbox (still via browser). Immediately after opening it, I had two shared links, one for editing and one for viewing. Then, in the same directory, I added a new (empty) Microsoft Excel document. When I clicked on it, it opened in the online editor (Microsoft 365 again) and I immediately had shared links to edit and view.

It doesn’t happen with PDF files. I observed that only with files opened within Microsoft 365 (online). So yes, I do suppose it might be the result of some kind of integration. (The PDF file I wrote about at the very beginning was available through browser history and was generated when printing a Microsoft Word document from an online application.)

That said, I didn’t use any other third party app apart from what is offered inside Dropbox — I thought as part of a deal between Dropbox and Microsoft. I don't remember ever doing anything about it. I don't usually use Dropbox via a browser and I'm not a fan of working in Microsoft applications.

Rob

Hi Nancy, thanks for your reply.

On the page you linked to, I only see this fragment: "When you create a new file through Office Online, a link to this file is automatically saved to Dropbox for easy access". There is no mention of opening a file there.

By the way, automatically creating a link to files in Dropbox – when creating or opening – without a clear warning that such a file can be seen (and even edited) by anyone who has access to the browser history, is at least questionable. And it really doesn't matter what you can find in the documentation about it.

I wasn't aware this was happening. This indicates either a wrong company strategy or bad design. It's hard for me to imagine that a company with Dropbox's experience would make such basic mistakes – so I conclude that this is the strategy. Either way, for me this means a drastic drop in trust.

Anyway, thank you for you assistance.

Rob

Hey rwoj  - sorry to jump in here, but I wanted to thank you for the feedback on this. We've passed it on to the team and you can let us know if you have anything else to add.

Thanks so much, Rob.

I believe DropBox has some serious issues. I deleted a shared folder. The people that the folder was shared with were still able to access and upload files to the folder months after deletion.  I created a new folder with the same name while I was on the phone with support. During my time on the call some of the files people were able to upload to the old folder automatically showed up in the newly created folder even though it was a completely new folder and wasn't shared. 

Hey dbarrett - sorry to hear about this.

May I ask how those actions are logged in your events page? 

Also, since you got in contact with our support team, could you share your ticket's number so that we can look it up in our system as well? 

Walter,

I no longer consider the application safe and will be deleting my account so I'm not really interested in sharing any additional information. I simply posted here because I'm not sure the issue was reported by the support person.