[AjithAntony]

Dropbox is just a regular directory on disk. There is no magic. There just happens to be a process watching that directory for changes. (or not. you can always kill the dropbox process, and your files are still accessible)

Of course most users don't encrypt their local file systems in the first place, so whether dropbox has something for local security is irrelevant.

For people interested in securing files on disk the same solutions you would use without dropbox are the same ones you can use with dropbox. In a nutshell, either encrypt your whole volume or mount a file-based volume.

Personally I use a Truecrypt volume, and I placed my drop box folder inside it. I do this so I can still access all the files from the web and mobile and have the versioning. Alternatively you could place the volume's data file itself in the dropbox folder to be synced. You would of course lose the per file granularity, but you do get a "snapshot" feature since you can restore your whole volume with the versioning.

Keep in mind that if you place a trucecrypt volume inside drop box, then it will only get synced when it is unmounted.

[rednaught]

Truecrypt is not an option for the majority of users. You've gone from a slick user experience to one of..."Why not just keep things on my USB stick again?"

These are solved problems as evidenced by other providers like Spideroak and Wuala where encryption happens by default on the client's device.

At the very least, Dropbox can offer this as an option. With the recent funding, if they are planning to offer business plans...surely encryption will be default there at least?

[mistermann]

A little more sophistication in their Selective Syncing would be nice as well. And maybe some response to questions on the forums, at least for paying customers.

I'm a paying customer, but I'm not a happy paying customer.

[dereg]

So, how do make that simple for the ordinary consumer?