The data is available from a URL, but also from computers, tablets and other devices you install Dropbox on. On such devices, Dropbox appears as an icon you can open as a folder. The data you put in the Dropbox folder on your machine is synchronized with the area you have on the Dropbox server, so you can access the same files from multiple computers and directly from the web.
How does it work?
UiO-Dropbox is a service which the departments pay for themselves. At the UiO, the service will primarily be offered researchers with a specific need for available storage and sharing of data. Other staff, who interact and communicate outside of the UiO in their work, may also receive approved allocation of a UiO-Dropbox account.
UiO employees may not use a regular Dropbox for work data, as it violates the IT regulations and, in many cases, Norwegian privacy legislation. If you need Dropbox in a job context, please contact your closest manager or person with budget deployment authority and ask to get allocation of a UiO-Dropbox approved Dropbox.
Price
UiO's current agreement with Dropbox offers 1 TB of storage capacity at approximately NOK 430 per year, which is approximately a third of the price of a regular Dropbox Plus license.
The storage limit of 1 TB of storage capacity is not an absolute limit, and may be extended in certain cases. This is possible because of how the total capacity of storage at the UiO are calculated, and makes the 2 TB Plus License comparable to the UiO agreement.
What is the difference between UiO-Dropbox and a regular Dropbox account?
For the UiO, it's important that you have control over your data and that they are stored correctly. The UiO has negotiated a data-processing agreement with Dropbox, and in the agreement it is ensured that the data you store on the UiO-Dropbox is stored on servers in Europe and can not be retrieved by anyone other than the owner. A version history log saves your changes to documents for 120 days (compared to 30 days on a normal private account), and you have ample space for your data combined with an easy login with UiO password and username via Feide.
USIT is the administrator of the UiO-Dropbox accounts, but is not permitted access except if breach of Norwegian law or the UiO IT regulations is suspected, or for operation purposes. If an account is accessed by the administrator, the account holder will be notified.
The current UiO agreement with Dropbox offers 1 TB of storage where storage will be in the EU, except for metadata stored in the United States. The version history of your files will be saved for 120 days.
What happens when I leave the UiO or no longer need UiO-Dropbox?
If you no longer need your UiO-Dropbox, UiO may decide that the account should be terminated. This happens when you leave your position at the UiO, or no longer have a specific need for the availability and sharing features Dropbox offers. Such a decision will usually be made together with the user, and the user will be notified.
The UiO-Dropbox Administrator will follow the UiO default policies for account termination when a user no longer is registered at the UiO.