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I accidentally opened a shared link with inappropriate content. Will Dropbox report me?

Chadbrad

A few months ago I was on website that had Dropbox links. I selected one, and I was completely horrified with what I saw as it most likely violated the acceptable use terms Dropbox has. I never downloaded or saved anything. I was not looking for any type of file like that. Would I be contacted by the authorities for just previewing the file in my account? Or will Dropbox report me for just previewing the file? I closed it within minutes of opening. I am scared please help. I wish I had reported it but didn’t out of utter fear for what I had seen and getting in any sort of trouble.

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Mark

Hi @Chadbrad

This is really going to depend upon your locality. However, in theory, I'd imagine you will be OK.

It would be logged that you accessed the file (well, rather the IP would be) and if the police wanted to do so they could request info on who did access it. But I imagine it will also show how long you stayed connected to it.

Within the UK where I am based I know that its "acceptable" in law to view illegal content by accident as long as its closed immediately and you were not actively searching for it.

I imagine you are totally fine, but, for future ref. if you find anything deemed questionable please send a copy of the link to abuse@dropbox.com

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Mark

Hi @Chadbrad

This is really going to depend upon your locality. However, in theory, I'd imagine you will be OK.

Within the UK where I am based I know that its "acceptable" in law to view illegal content by accident as long as its closed immediately and you were not actively searching for it.

I imagine you are totally fine, but, for future ref. if you find anything deemed questionable please send a copy of the link to abuse@dropbox.com

Chadbrad

I know Dropbox reports illegal contents when they are downloaded. Do you know if they report the user for just accessing a preview. If so then that just defeats the purpose of the preview, as it allows to see contents before downloading them.

Rich

A preview is a download. You might not be explicitly requesting to download a file, but anything you view online is downloaded to your computer. It's just saved in your browser's cache. It may be a preview copy, meaning of lower quality, smaller, etc., but it's still a version of the file. You can't view anything online without it being downloaded.

That said, I agree with Mark. You're not going to be in trouble for clicking a link you came across online unless, of course, there's a history of searching for that type of content.

Just report the illegal content to abuse@dropbox.com.

Mark

@Chadbrad wrote:
for just accessing a preview. If so then that just defeats the purpose of the preview, as it allows to see contents before downloading them.

Thats, sadly, how the whole internet works.

Anything you view is downloaded to your device - in the local cache folders. You cannot get around that.

Chadbrad

So as I was on a Reddit page I came across a file that possibly had illegal ******. When I selected the file I pressed “open in app”. I was horrified with what I saw and closed it within minutes. I should’ve, but didn’t report it out of sheer fear. I since deleted the entire account. I know Dropbox alerts the NCMEC for when someone saves this type of content to their account and stores it. Would my account have been reported for just opening it inside the app but not saving it? I am literally terrified of losing everything over something I was not even looking for on the internet.