deleted folder re appeared after a couple of years

[alex b.35]

Something very weird just happened with my dropbox account. Out of nowhere, a folder which was deletec about 2 years ago re appeared on my dropbox. It has the files as they were, which makes me wonder why the hell dropbox is still keeping these files after a few years that they have been deleted?

First I thought it was a hack, but then I checked all my devices and what was accessing my account and indeed, everything was as it was before.

It makes me think this is a serious bug and on another note, why the hell is dropbox keeping data that was deleted 2 years ago?

I'll surprised, scared and angry at the same time. I'm not even sure where to begin! I'm now wondering about several of my clients that use dropbox in their business if the same happens.

[Filon A.]

It is interesting to read the following in the help pages:

"For Dropbox Basic users, and for many Dropbox Pro users, files are permanently removed 30 days after the initial deletion. These files cannot be recovered, even by a Dropbox support agent."

https://www.dropbox.com/help/9230

This is obviously a lie and makes me very concerned about privacy.

[JamesHancox]

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@Filon A. wrote:

It is interesting to read the following in the help pages:

"For Dropbox Basic users, and for many Dropbox Pro users, files are permanently removed 30 days after the initial deletion. These files cannot be recovered, even by a Dropbox support agent."

https://www.dropbox.com/help/9230

This is obviously a lie and makes me very concerned about privacy.

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Do we know if anyone from Dropbox is even seeing this thread? Are we going to hear from them at all about it, or will we have to wait until it's in the media perhaps...

[AK47]

Has anyone reported a fix to this? 

Also apps are not properly showing PDFs

Thank you

[Rebecca88]

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@JamesHancox wrote:

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Do we know if anyone from Dropbox is even seeing this thread? Are we going to hear from them at all about it, or will we have to wait until it's in the media perhaps...

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I'm sure they are. This represents a MASSIVE breach of trust and a PR nightmare about to happen for them. They've been lying to their entire userbase for at least 7 years and permanently storing our deleted files without permission. This could very readily lead to lawsuits.

I've already started purging my dropbox and moving to a different provider, and suggest everyone else do the same. I've also saved this entire thread (offline) in case they try to delete it. BGR, Engadget, Slashdot, etc should be all over this, and I'll be in contact with the appropriate parties soon. 

[clownbaby]

Count me in as a "me too!"

Very very weird and disconcerting to find stuff from somewhere between 2009-2011 - about 30gb worth.

Dropbox has some serious explaining to do.

[thesamovar]

I have the exact same issue. Some very old files just reappeared in my root dropbox directory, and going to the web interface clicking on version history gives a 400 error.

[John B.78]

Same. I've had 6-year-old folders and files reappear. There are other threads on here from people with the same issue and searching twitter for recent tweets with "Dropbox old" and so first shows there are a lot more people. The Dropbox Support account there claims to be aware of the issue but some sort of official statement or explanation would be nice.

It is interesting to learn how long Dropbox keeps deleted files.

[Rich]

It turns out that there does seem to be an issue with this happening to certain people. emilg was the first to mention it but there were no other reports of it happening at the time. Several days later more people started to report it.

As the other thread for this issue is longer and has a Dropboxer replying to it on occasion, I'm going to merge this thread into that one.

[davdav]

Same thing happened to me, noticed yesterday. Loads of folders and files dating back to 2011 suddenly reappeared on my Dropbox account. Also happened to my wife's account.

What's going on?? Like others that have posted here, I'm pretty shocked that Dropbox seem to be indefinitely storing everything I upload without my knowledge...

[clownbaby]

For me, the biggest thing is not a respawning of stuff I've deleted, but we all seem to have things that have been revived after 5+ years, which is way longer than the 30 days that Dropbox claims. So, Dropbox really needs to explain and not sugarcoat what happens otherwise that will get them into trouble.