Acceptable Use Policy

MATERIAL

FIRST SEEN 2026-09-02 · VERSION 20260902_rev01 · FIRST CAPTURED VERSION

What changed, in plain language

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.

Changes that may affect you

One violation can now shut down every account you haveMATERIAL

TERMINATION

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.

Changelog

± 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.
suspending a user's access to the Services, or terminating an account.
suspending your access to the Services, or terminating any of your accounts.
− 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.

Full text changes

COLOUR MARKS THE SEVERITY OF A FLAGGED CLAUSE · + AND − MARK ADDED AND REMOVED

 - sell the Services unless specifically authorized to do so, or purchase the Services from an unauthorized seller;
 - use the Services to back up, or as infrastructure for, your own cloud services;
 - 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;
 - 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;
 - 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;
 - publish, share, or store content that contains or promotes extreme acts of violence or terrorist activity, including terror or violent extremist propaganda;
 - 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;
 - harass or abuse Dropbox personnel or representatives or agents performing services on behalf of Dropbox;
 - 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;
 - 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.
+Dropbox 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.
+Dropbox 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.