'Drop Dropbox' Movement Pressures Dropbox to Give Condoleezza Rice the Boot

Dropbox made waves last week when the company announced that former United States Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice would be joining the company’s Board of Directors. Now, a group of protesters have started to organize a new movement that encourages users to drop the popular cloud file storage service unless the company drops Dr. Rice from the Board.

If the question on your mind is ,“Why?”  you aren’t alone. The group finds issue with numerous aspects of Condoleezza Rice’s appointment, including her involvement with the beginnings of the Iraq War, a highly controversial decision that has directly led to the death of up to 120,000 civilians.

The group also points to Dr. Rice’s involvement in the start of the United State’s torture program started under the administration of former United States President George W. Bush, as well as Dr. Rice’s authorization of several warrantless wiretaps throughout the years, a decision that many have deemed unconstitutional. These could be particularly damning for Dr. Rice as Dropbox is entrusted with likely millions of gigabytes worth of private, sensitive information. The thought that Dr. Rice could use her position on the Board as a way to violate users’ privacy and access their information without a warrant is particularly scary, and one not without precedent for the former Secretary of State.

As has become the norm for these sorts of movements, the group is hoping that like minded individuals will join the cause by tweeting their support alongside the hashtag “#DropDropbox.” They also are perfectly willing to point users out to some potential alternatives, including OneDrive, Box, and Google Drive.

So how has Dropbox responded to the protest? Company CEO Drew Houston has posted a short but sweet blog post responding to his critics, saying that “there’s nothing more important to us than keeping your stuff safe and secure,” and that the company has been “fighting for transparency and government surveillance reform, and why we’ve been vocal and public with our principles and values.” Of course, this promise has done little to calm down those angry at the company for appointing Dr. Rice to begin with.