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Acceptable Use Policy

Dropbox made a small wording change to the enforcement sentence at the end of its Acceptable Use Policy. It now says Dropbox can terminate "any of your accounts" instead of "an account," which means one violation could cost you every account you own, not just the one involved. Nothing else in the list of banned activities changed.

One violation can now shut down every account you haveThe old wording let Dropbox terminate "an account" — normally read as the account tied to…

The old wording let Dropbox terminate "an account" — normally read as the account tied to the violation. The new wording lets Dropbox terminate "any of your accounts." If you keep a personal account and a work or family account, breaking a rule on one could mean losing access to the files in all of them. There is no new appeal process or refund promise to go with this wider power.

“We reserve the right to take swift and appropriate action in response to violations of this policy, which could include removing or disabling access to content, suspending your access to the Services, or terminating any of your accounts.”

What you can do — Keep your own backup copies of important files outside Dropbox, and don't rely on a second Dropbox account as your safety net — it can be closed along with the first.

TERMINATION
20260902_rev01COLOUR MARKS THE SEVERITY OF A FLAGGED CLAUSE · + AND − MARK ADDED AND REMOVED
3535- sell the Services unless specifically authorized to do so, or purchase the Services from an unauthorized seller;
3636- use the Services to back up, or as infrastructure for, your own cloud services;
3737- use the storage space provided by the Services as the basis for cryptographic proof-of-space or proof-of-storage, or any similar proof system;
3838- engage in any type of payment fraud, including unauthorized use of credit cards or other payment methods, illegitimate chargebacks, or any other method of obtaining the Services without required payment;
3939- publish, share, or store materials that constitute child sexually exploitative material (including material which may not be illegal child sexual abuse material but which nonetheless sexually exploits or promotes the sexual exploitation of minors), unlawful pornography, or are otherwise indecent;
4040- publish, share, or store content that contains or promotes extreme acts of violence or terrorist activity, including terror or violent extremist propaganda;
41
4241- advocate bigotry, hatred, or the incitement of violence against any person or group of people based on their race, religion, ethnicity, national origin, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability, impairment, or any other characteristic(s) associated with systemic discrimination or marginalization;
4342- harass or abuse Dropbox personnel or representatives or agents performing services on behalf of Dropbox;
4443- violate the privacy or infringe the rights of others, including publishing, sharing, or storing other people's confidential information, identifying information, or intimate imagery without authorization for the purposes of harassing, exposing, harming, or exploiting them;
4544- otherwise violate the law in any way, including storing, publishing, or sharing content which depicts, promotes, or instructs on illegal activity, is fraudulent, defamatory, misleading, or exploitative, or that infringes the intellectual property rights of others.
4645
47Dropbox endeavors to enforce our policies fairly and consistently. We reserve the right to take swift and appropriate action in response to violations of this policy, which could include removing or disabling access to content, suspending a user's access to the Services, or terminating an account.
46Dropbox endeavors to enforce our policies fairly and consistently. We reserve the right to take swift and appropriate action in response to violations of this policy, which could include removing or disabling access to content, suspending your access to the Services, or terminating any of your accounts.
± CHANGEDEnforcement can now reach all of your accounts

The closing sentence used to say Dropbox could suspend "a user's access" and terminate "an account." It now says Dropbox can suspend "your access" and terminate "any of your accounts." If you have more than one Dropbox account, a problem with one could now affect all of them.

ALSO IN THIS CHANGE, NOT TIED TO ONE LINE

  1. − REMOVEDBlank line removed from the list

    An empty line between two bullet points was deleted. This is formatting only and changes nothing about the rules.