Secure Your Dropbox Content
Dropbox hosts millions of business documents containing sensitive customer and employee data. RedactionAPI integrates directly with Dropbox to automatically detect and redact PII in your cloud files, ensuring compliance and protecting against data exposure.
Integration Options
RedactionAPI offers flexible integration approaches to match your workflow requirements:
Automated Monitoring
Watch folders for new uploads and automatically apply redaction policies. Files are processed within minutes of upload.
Batch Processing
Process existing files in bulk. Scan and redact entire folder trees or specific file selections on demand.
On-Demand API
Trigger redaction programmatically when specific events occur in your application or workflow.
Setting Up the Integration
Step 1: Connect Your Dropbox Account
# Using the RedactionAPI CLI
redactionapi integrations connect dropbox
# Or via API
POST /v1/integrations/dropbox/connect
{
"redirect_uri": "https://yourapp.com/oauth/callback",
"scope": ["files.content.read", "files.content.write"]
}
# Response includes OAuth authorization URL
{
"authorization_url": "https://www.dropbox.com/oauth2/authorize?...",
"state": "abc123"
}
Step 2: Configure Folder Policies
POST /v1/integrations/dropbox/policies
{
"name": "HR Documents Policy",
"source_folder": "/HR/Employee Records",
"action": "monitor",
"file_types": ["pdf", "docx", "xlsx"],
"pii_types": ["name", "ssn", "address", "phone", "dob"],
"redaction_method": "mask",
"output": {
"mode": "create_new",
"destination": "/HR/Redacted Records",
"naming_pattern": "{original_name}_redacted.{ext}"
},
"notification": {
"email": "[email protected]",
"on_completion": true,
"on_error": true
}
}
Step 3: Enable Monitoring
POST /v1/integrations/dropbox/policies/{policy_id}/activate
{
"start_immediately": true,
"process_existing": true, // Scan existing files in folder
"existing_file_limit": 1000 // Process first 1000 existing files
}
# Response
{
"status": "active",
"webhook_registered": true,
"existing_files_queued": 847,
"monitoring_started_at": "2024-01-15T10:30:00Z"
}
File Processing Workflow
Processing Pipeline
┌───────────────┐ ┌────────────────┐ ┌──────────────┐
│ Dropbox │────▶│ RedactionAPI │────▶│ Dropbox │
│ (Source) │ │ Processing │ │ (Output) │
└───────────────┘ └────────────────┘ └──────────────┘
│ │ │
▼ ▼ ▼
File Upload PII Detection Redacted File
or Selection & Redaction Saved/Replaced
│
▼
┌──────────────┐
│ Audit Log │
│ & Reports │
└──────────────┘
Output Options
Redacted File Handling
Replace Original
- • Overwrites the source file
- • Original preserved in Dropbox version history
- • Best for cleanup of sensitive data
Create New Version
- • Adds redacted version to file history
- • Original accessible via version restore
- • Maintains single file reference
Separate File
- • Creates new file alongside original
- • Naming pattern: _redacted suffix
- • Both versions accessible
Different Folder
- • Moves redacted file to specified folder
- • Can maintain folder structure
- • Ideal for "clean" document libraries
Batch Processing
Process existing files in bulk with batch operations:
Batch Processing Request
POST /v1/integrations/dropbox/batch
{
"source": {
"type": "folder",
"path": "/Legal/Contracts/2023",
"recursive": true
},
"filters": {
"file_types": ["pdf", "docx"],
"modified_after": "2023-01-01",
"min_size_bytes": 1000,
"exclude_patterns": ["*_redacted.*", "*.backup"]
},
"redaction_config": {
"pii_types": ["name", "ssn", "address", "phone"],
"method": "mask"
},
"output": {
"mode": "separate_folder",
"destination": "/Legal/Contracts/2023_Redacted",
"preserve_structure": true
},
"options": {
"max_concurrent": 10,
"continue_on_error": true
}
}
# Response
{
"batch_id": "batch_abc123",
"status": "processing",
"files_queued": 234,
"estimated_completion": "2024-01-15T12:00:00Z",
"progress_url": "https://api.redactionapi.com/v1/batches/batch_abc123"
}
Dropbox Business Features
Additional capabilities for Dropbox Business accounts:
Team Admin Controls
- • Set organization-wide redaction policies
- • Manage access across team folders
- • View team-wide redaction reports
- • Configure member permissions
Namespace Support
- • Process team spaces and member folders
- • Handle namespace paths correctly
- • Respect team folder permissions
- • Support Paper documents
SDK Integration Example
Python SDK Example
from redactionapi import RedactionClient
from redactionapi.integrations import DropboxIntegration
# Initialize client
client = RedactionClient(api_key="your_api_key")
# Connect to Dropbox (after OAuth flow)
dropbox = DropboxIntegration(
client=client,
access_token="dropbox_access_token"
)
# Process a single file
result = dropbox.redact_file(
path="/Documents/customer_data.pdf",
pii_types=["name", "email", "phone"],
output_mode="create_new"
)
print(f"Redacted file saved to: {result.output_path}")
# Set up folder monitoring
policy = dropbox.create_policy(
name="Customer Data Policy",
source_folder="/Uploads/Customer Forms",
pii_types=["all"],
output={
"mode": "separate_folder",
"destination": "/Processed/Customer Forms"
}
)
policy.activate()
# Process existing files
batch = dropbox.batch_process(
folder="/Archive/2023",
recursive=True,
file_types=["pdf", "docx"]
)
# Monitor progress
for update in batch.progress():
print(f"Processed: {update.completed}/{update.total}")
Webhook Events
Receive notifications about processing status:
// Webhook payload for completed file
{
"event": "file.redacted",
"timestamp": "2024-01-15T10:35:22Z",
"data": {
"source_path": "/HR/Employee Records/john_smith_application.pdf",
"output_path": "/HR/Redacted Records/john_smith_application_redacted.pdf",
"file_id": "id:abc123",
"pii_found": {
"name": 3,
"ssn": 1,
"phone": 2,
"address": 1
},
"processing_time_ms": 2340
}
}
// Webhook payload for error
{
"event": "file.error",
"timestamp": "2024-01-15T10:36:15Z",
"data": {
"source_path": "/HR/Employee Records/corrupted_file.pdf",
"error_code": "FILE_UNREADABLE",
"error_message": "Unable to parse PDF: file appears corrupted",
"file_id": "id:def456"
}
}
Best Practices
Dropbox Integration Guidelines
- Start with Test Folders: Test your policies on non-production folders before applying to sensitive content.
- Use Specific File Filters: Limit processing to relevant file types to avoid unnecessary API usage and processing time.
- Enable Version History: Ensure Dropbox version history is enabled to recover originals if needed.
- Set Up Notifications: Configure email or webhook notifications for errors and batch completions.
- Review Audit Logs: Regularly review redaction logs to verify policies are working as expected.
- Consider Permissions: Ensure the connected account has appropriate access to source and destination folders.
Compliance Use Cases
GDPR Data Subject Requests
Identify and redact personal data across Dropbox when responding to deletion or portability requests.
Safe External Sharing
Automatically redact PII before files are shared externally via Dropbox links.
Archive Sanitization
Clean historical archives of unnecessary PII before long-term retention or migration.
Vendor Data Protection
Ensure files shared with vendors and contractors don't contain sensitive customer information.
Protect Your Dropbox Files
Connect RedactionAPI to your Dropbox account and start protecting sensitive data in your cloud storage automatically.
