Dropbox data classification

Data classification helps teams stay compliant with corporate and government regulations by allowing admins to automatically track and report on personal information stored in team folders, team member folders and shared folders. This includes credit card, passport, bank account, and social security numbers.

Enable automatic data classification

Admins can enable automatic scanning for personal information. 

To enable automatic scanning:

1. Log in to dropbox.com with your admin credentials.
2. Click Admin console in the left sidebar.
3. Click the More dropdown in the left sidebar.
4. Click Classification in the left sidebar.
5. Click the dropdown next to Personal information labeling and select Only scan team content or Member and team content.
6. Uncheck the box next to any Info types that aren’t relevant.
7. Click Save.

Information types that can be detected

Automatic data classification is currently supported in the US, Canada, Australia, Germany, France, Japan, Singapore, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Finland, and the UK.
 

To see a current list of personal information types Dropbox can detect:

1. Log in to dropbox.com with your admin credentials.
2. Click Admin console in the left sidebar.
3. Click Classification in the left sidebar.
4. Browse by location under Info types.

Receive and view external sharing alerts

Admins will receive data loss prevention (DLP) alerts via email when files or folders containing sensitive information are shared outside their team.

The email alert includes:

• Filename and location
• Type and severity of the alert
• Date and time the content was shared 
• Type(s) of information detected in the shared content
• Team member who shared the content
• Recipients of the share

Learn how to turn security alerts on and off.

Admins can check alerts in their admin console and can block access to the affected content, if necessary. 
 

To access all DLP alerts:

1. Log in to dropbox.com with your admin credentials.
2. Click Admin console in the left sidebar.
3. Click the dropdown beside Dropbox, under Products.
4. Click Security.
5. Click Security alerts.

To remove access to externally shared content:

1. Open the DLP alert in your email or admin console.
2. Click Manage access in the top-right corner.
3. Click the downward arrow next the the recipient’s name and select Remove.

Create a classification report

Admins can create a classification report to see a list of files containing personal information. The report includes:

• Filename and type
• File ID
• File location
• Type of information detected
• External sharing status
• Sharing method
• Sharing originators
• Sharing recipients
• Sharing dates

To create a classification report:

1. Log in to dropbox.com with your admin credentials.
2. Click Admin console in the left sidebar.
3. Click the More dropdown in the left sidebar.
4. Click Classification in the left sidebar.
5. Click Create report next to Create a report of labelled files.

A .csv file will be generated. You’ll be notified by email when the report is ready to be viewed or downloaded from the Dropbox Business reports folder of your admin account.

Accuracy of detection

The data classification feature makes predictions of personal information based on probabilities. These predictions can be subjective and may not be 100% accurate.

Team member files

If you’re a member of a Dropbox team with data classification enabled by an admin, Dropbox will scan your team's files for personal information. This process includes assigning certain attributes to files to help your admin better manage sensitive data in your team’s account. If your team disbands and you continue using Dropbox, files that were once part of your team’s account may retain attributes assigned during the data classification process.