Dropbox + Data Alias: Pick a file from Dropbox, save the protected copy back as a new file
Why use Dropbox with Data Alias
Exports pile up in shared Dropbox folders. This skips the download and upload around protecting them, and your browser talks to Dropbox directly.
How it works
Importing uses Dropbox's own Chooser, which hands Data Alias a direct link to the one file you pick — no sign-in and no token at all. The file's size is checked against your plan before it is fetched. Saving is separate: you connect with permission to add new files, and the reviewed protected copy is written as a new file in a Data Alias folder.
What it does
- Import one file you pick in Dropbox's Chooser, without signing in
- Save the protected copy as a new CSV or TXT file in the /Data Alias/ folder
- Recognise an earlier save after a lost answer, instead of writing a second file
- Never read, edit or delete the files already in your Dropbox
How it will connect
These are the steps once the connection is available. Until then: Download the file from Dropbox, upload it to Data Alias, and upload the safe copy back yourself.
- 1
Choose a file
Dropbox's Chooser opens over the page. The link it returns grants access to that one file only.
- 2
Review in your browser
Detection, your rules and the review before export run in the tab, the same as for an uploaded file. Change any suggestion you disagree with.
- 3
Connect to save
Saving asks for two permissions: see your account name, and add new files.
- 4
Save as a new file
The protected copy lands in the /Data Alias/ folder. Existing files aren't touched.
What moves where
- What reaches Data Alias servers
- Nothing from the file. Your browser talks to Dropbox directly.
- What Data Alias reads
- Only the file you picked in the Chooser.
- What is written to Dropbox
- A new file in /Data Alias/. A save never overwrites.
- Never sent
- The original file, the alias mapping, and restored results with real names never leave your browser.
- Who holds the access token
- Your browser tab, in memory only. Importing needs no token.
Limits worth knowing
- The add-files permission can't see a saved file's web address, so Open Dropbox takes you to the folder.
- Importing the same file again means picking it again.
- The Chooser's link is time-limited, so a pick left for hours may need to be made again.
Can I connect Dropbox today?
No. The connection is built and tested against stand-ins for Dropbox, but it hasn't been run against a real Dropbox account, so there is nothing to connect yet. Download the file from Dropbox, upload it to Data Alias, and upload the safe copy back yourself.
Could saving again create a duplicate?
It is designed not to. Every save aims at one fixed file name, so if an earlier attempt landed, Dropbox reports the name as taken and Data Alias treats that as the earlier save.
Can Data Alias see my other files?
No. The Chooser grants one file, and the save permission can add files but not read them.
Data Alias reduces exposure risk but cannot guarantee detection of every sensitive value. Every transfer passes the same review as a download — check the result before you send it. How connected services are handled.