Dropbox Kept Files Around For Years Due To 'Delete' Bug (bleepingcomputer.com)

Dropbox has fixed a bug that caused old, deleted data to reappear on the site. The bug was reported by multiple support threads in the last three weeks and merged into one issue here. An anonymous Slashdot reader writes: In some of the complaints users reported seeing folders they deleted in 2009 reappear on their devices overnight. After seeing mysterious folders appear in their profile, some users thought they were hacked. Last week, a Dropbox employee provided an explanation to what happened, blaming the issue on an old bug that affected the metadata of soon-to-be-deleted folders. Instead of deleting the files, as users wanted and regardless of metadata issues, Dropbox choose to keep those files around for years, and eventually restored them due to a blunder. In its File retention Policy, Dropbox says it will keep files around a maximum 60 days after users deleted them.

Comments

Re:Tell me the OS

[93 Escort Wagon]

Which OS is it that is so complicated that when you ask it to delete a file, it doesn't? I wasn't aware that one even exists

I strongly suspect this has nothing to do with the OS and everything to do with Dropbox Inc.

I don't imagine they actually delete anything - they probably just set a "do not show to user" flag. It's probably still there, ad infinitum, along with any and all metadata connecting the file to you as an individual.