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Dropbox Stealthily Launches Invite-Only Password Manager

Image for article titled Dropbox Stealthily Launches Invite-Only Password Manager
Screenshot: Dropbox/Play Store

Without much fanfare, Dropbox has decided to launch a password manager app called Dropbox Passwords. The catch is, the app is still in beta and unless you’ve got an invite, you’re out of luck.

Right now, you can find the beta version of Dropbox Passwords in the Play Store. Initially spotted by Android Police, it functions similarly to other password managers like LastPass and 1Password. For example, it can automatically fill in usernames and passwords for websites and apps, generate secure passwords for new accounts, and automatically sync across devices. That said, there’s no mention of two-factor authentication.

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Other than that and the minimalistic app design that is shown in the descriptor, there’s not a whole lot we know about the service. The Play Store descriptor notes that it’s currently in “private beta and only available to some Dropbox customers” so even if you wanted to check it out yourself you may not be able to. Users of iOS are also out of luck, as it appears to be an Android-only app at the moment.

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Considering Dropbox’s checkered record on security, it would make sense that the company would try to fix that. Dropbox has had several problems with passwords in particular. A 2011 TechCrunch report found it was possible to log into all Dropbox accounts without passwords. It happened again in 2016 when the emails and addresses for 68 million Dropbox accounts were published online. And those are just the major incidents related to password security. In 2014, Edward Snowden criticized Dropbox as “hostile to privacy” due to its encryption methods, and there have been several security-related issues over the years.

We’ll have to wait and see whether Dropbox Password can compete against more established password managers, but at least this is a step in the right direction.