Terms of Use and Conditions for Dropbox for Research

What are the Advantages to Using Dropbox for Research?

Unlimited Storage – Unlike Google Drive there is currently no limit to the amount of data that can be stored on Dropbox. This makes it an ideal research storage facility for research groups engaging in Big Data type projects where there is a requirement for over and above  the usual College data storage requirements.

The Dropbox for Research service has undergone a full UCD Procurement process as well as being assessed by the UCD Data Protection Office. The service has also passed the initial UCD IT Services Security Cloud checklist and change control requirements.

UCD Staff members can use the UCD Single-Sign-on Authentication with MFA for additional security

Your research data as per GDPR requirements  is stored in the EU.

What are the Conditions for Signing up to Dropbox for Research?

Period of Use

The pilot is for a 2-year period.

Who can Apply?

Your Principal Investigator or Head of a Research group will have to request access to this service.

As Dropbox for Research is a pilot with a limited number of licenses we would ideally prefer to restrict these to UCD Staff only so that our researchers can get the full use of the service. However if you have a genuine requirement for an external collaborator then you should in the first instance log an online call with the IT Support Centre

Use of the Dropbox for Research service is restricted to UCD PhD, Postdoctoral, Principal Investigator and Staff members. Undergraduates will not have access to the service.

You and your research team may be required to sign up to a Google Mailing List so that you are aware of any software upgrades or service communications that may be deemed necessary by ourselves and the Dropbox support team.

As this is a PILOT service Research IT reserves the right to amend or change the above conditions as and when required.

Previous Dropbox Users

If you have previously been a Dropbox user you will be offered an option when joining for the first time where you can migrate your data to the research team folder. As this is personal data we advise that you DO NOT accept the option as Dropbox for Research is designed for collaborative sharing between research group members.

What are your Responsibilities?

You and the members of your research team are required to protect your data in accordance with the UCD IT Security and GDPR policy requirements.

You and your research team have final and overall responsibility for the safety of your data.

What Dropbox isn’t Suitable for?

For the duration of the pilot it has been decided that the Dropbox for Research service CANNOT be used for SENSITIVE DATA.