DropBox vs Google Drive

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we're using already google business apps but somehow we ended up with DropBox a while back and carried on. To me it makes sense to move the storage to Google Drive too, it is slightly more cost effective.

Does anytone have any experoences positive or negative of Google Drive vs DropBox. We're using TaxCalc and Payroll Manager in case it matters.

We'll be 2-3 users max

Many thanks in advance

 

Replies (17)

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By the_drookit_dug
02nd Nov 2020 21:12

Thumbs up for Google Drive from me, although no negative experiences of Dropbox to report either.

Google Sheets is also a more cost-effective spreadsheet package than Excel, and has pretty much the same functionality (although any macros you may have may need to be re-written). Admittedly using it initially is like using Excel but with one arm tied behind your back, as you have to learn hoe Google Sheets works.

(Edit: just realised you're probably already using Google Sheets)

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By paulwakefield1
03rd Nov 2020 08:49

Since the EU overturned the Privacy Shield in July, one should be careful as to where the servers are situated. I believe with Dropbox you can choose once you have a paid for subscription but otherwise it defaults to the US. I don't know about Google Drive.

I may be a bit out of date as I do not use either for work with one exception that does not involve personal data.

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Replying to paulwakefield1:
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By Bill Mew
04th Nov 2020 15:39

The Privacy Shield ruling means that you actually need to be careful which operator you use. Almost all US tech firms are subject to FISA 702. And as I explain in my article "Europe rebukes US for mass surveillance" https://buff.ly/3jsNw23, this applies to almost all US tech firms (telcos, cloud firms and social media giants) irrespective of whether the data is stored on their servers in the EU or their servers in the US.
As the article explains “Given that FISA warrants can be served on any US-based ‘electronic communication service providers’, US-based telcos, cloud firms or social media platforms are therefore unable to assure the protection of private data from mass surveillance. In other words, at any time the NSA could demand that any of these operators hand over the data, which means that the data isn’t safe so we cannot use such services (for storing or processing the personal data of EU or UK citizens).
The article also explains that “Indeed, given the extra-territorial provisions in the CLOUD Act, they likely don’t have a legal basis for storing your data in the EU either.” In other words, it does not matter if these firms are storing and processing the data on their servers in the US or their servers in the EU, if they have access to the data then they have to hand it to the NSA so the same problem applies and we cannot use them.
Basically, it doesn’t matter if the data in your words ‘defaults to the US’ or not, you need to avoid using DropBox or Google or Amazon or any other US tech firm for storing or processing the personal data of EU or UK citizens.

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Replying to Bill Mew:
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By SE_Confused
04th Nov 2020 15:46

i see your point, is there an equivalent EU based provider?
I do not want to go back to servers and physical machines.

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Replying to SE_Confused:
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By paulwakefield1
04th Nov 2020 15:51

I use Sync.com which is based in Canada and I believe is compliant.

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Replying to paulwakefield1:
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By Bill Mew
04th Nov 2020 16:12

At the time that the General Data Protection Regulation became applicable, the third countries which ensure an adequate level of protection were: Andorra, Argentina, Canada (only commercial organizations), Faroe Islands, Guernsey, Israel, Isle of Man, Jersey, New Zealand, Switzerland, Uruguay and Japan.

Note that the US does NOT appear on the list.

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Replying to Bill Mew:
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By Rgab1947
05th Nov 2020 11:15

I tend to agree with what is said by Bill Mew but cut those out including OneDrive and what are you left with? A Chinese or Russian server/storage?

Some EU/UK software firms with their own storage do have UK based servers but that is for their software users data only.

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By Moo Cow
03rd Nov 2020 10:33

a word of caution from me: dropbox isn't a back up solution, so if the data gets corrupted (by a virus), then you are a bit stuffed. Suspect Google drive is the same.

I have sharepoint running with a mirror to one drive, so end user experience is "saving the document to cloud (onedrive)" but in a much more 2020 way should the worse happen....

Edited: techies don't ask me anything further, I don't understand. I'm one of the stupid end users!

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Replying to Moo Cow:
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By FD4CAST FD4CAST
05th Nov 2020 13:22

Dropbox is a back-up solution. You simply either rewind the folder(s) in question or do a complete restore with their Support team (as I had to do 2 years ago).

The only issue with a full restore is that the date the files were last saved becomes the date of the restore - hence I have a date of 18/02/2018 for loads and load of files which I have never opened for years.

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counting
By Counting numbers
03rd Nov 2020 10:48

We use Google drive and couldn't be happier. It's been a lifesaver during lockdown for staff working remotely. I have limited experience of Dropbox but from what I hear it's just as good.

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John Stokdyk, AccountingWEB head of insight
By John Stokdyk
03rd Nov 2020 14:50

The "we ended up using Dropbox" tendency is a very broad church, but has been the subject of debate among AccountingWEB members for more than eight years:
https://www.accountingweb.co.uk/tech/tech-pulse/dropbox-what-you-need-to...

A lot of the concerns raised in that thread still apply: it was originally designed as a consumer service and hosted in the US, where more relaxed federal data privacy laws may not comply with the requirements of the UK Information Commissioner's Office, or your professional body.

The "Privacy Shield" decision mentioned by paulwakefield takes this discussion to a completely new level, which is only complicated by the UK's ambiguous relationship to EU data protection standards over the next year or two. While Google Drive has better user access controls, it too is affected by the Privacy Shield issue and I don't think it encrypts data in a way that meets GDPR-type standards. If you want to find out more before making up your mind, have a look at Bill Mew's recent article on privacy: https://www.accountingweb.co.uk/tech/tech-pulse/europe-rebukes-us-for-ma...

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Replying to John Stokdyk:
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By Bill Mew
04th Nov 2020 16:09

In an earlier reply in this thread I mention, how DropBox and all other services from US tech firms can no longer be used for storing or processing the personal data of EU or UK citizens.
Encryption can be used to provide adequate protection to data thus enabling you to use such services as long as you hold the encryption keys and not the US service provider and as long as the encryption is sufficiently robust to prevent the NSA from accessing the personal information if it is headed over to them.

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Replying to Bill Mew:
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By PERMON
04th Nov 2020 22:05

In some cases it is possible to have the EU "standard clauses" apply so that one is not relying on the Privacy Shield( from memory I think this can be done in Gsuite but you have to look for a data processor agreement ?)

As a matter of interest do you know what the position is with Office365 ( now Microsoft 365) and One Drive for Business ?

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Replying to PERMON:
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By Bill Mew
04th Nov 2020 22:20

I am sorry, but this is no longer the case. Use of SCCs was restricted under the Privacy Shield ruling. The US tech giants won't tell you this

The ruling can not be avoided ... Facebook says it may quit Europe over ban on sharing data with US https://buff.ly/3kzzT0o

ALL other US tech giants are in the same boat

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Replying to Bill Mew:
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By PERMON
05th Nov 2020 13:55

Thanks Bill,
I see from the links etc that what you are say seems correct but are you saying that everybody who is using Gsuite or Office 365 for file storage or even email is essentially out of step with GDPR and if so how do you ultimately see this being resolved ?

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By alejandra
05th Nov 2020 11:00

With Dropbox, if two or more users open the same spreadsheet at the same time, you will end up with conflicting copies. With Google Drive, all users would be editing a live version of the same document.

If I could get my head around how to file documents in folders on Google Drive, I'd move over. But for now I'm stuck with Dropbox because it acts like Windows Explorer so I can find things easily. (Our CTO tells me Google Drive can be made to act in the same way which would be nice)

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By Mabel
05th Nov 2020 15:44

I had a client who many years ago got a virus on his computer and the virus was uploaded to his Dropbox and so he lost everything. It was a long time ago and it may be different now.
I know this discussion is about Dropbox v Google but seeing the comments about GDPR etc. I use Livedrive, which I can use anywhere I am situated. It is fully compliant with EU privacy laws, it uses transfer encryption & the data is stored in the UK.
I know it is a bit more expensive & I was thinking of changing to Googledrive once my subscription came to an end, but after reading these threads, I think for peace of mind, I will stick with them.

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