# Can I upload a file online and have only certain people access it? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 1, 2013, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-upload-a-file-online-and-have-only-certain-people-access-it/667757 "2013-09-01T21:09:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![EmilyG](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/emilyg/32/364_2.png) [@EmilyG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EmilyG)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2013, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-upload-a-file-online-and-have-only-certain-people-access-it/667757/1 "2013-09-01T21:09:58Z")
I’m thinking of uploading a PDF file online. I’d like to make it so that only certain people can download the file (so the general public wouldn’t be able to find it, just the people I want to.) Would it be possible to have a sort of “secret” web address, that if I gave this address to only a few people, they’d be able to download the file ? (Kind of like with Youtube, where you can set up a video so only those with the address can see it.) Or could I maybe have the file password-protected so that only those with the password could access it? (This PDF file is of some sheet music I arranged. It’s nothing illegal, like someone else’s copyrighted music or anything.) ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2013, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-upload-a-file-online-and-have-only-certain-people-access-it/667757/2 "2013-09-01T21:11:38Z")
You’re describing pretty much standard features of many online storage solutions - Skydrive (file storage you get along with a Hotmail account) can do this. ---
**Author:** ![DrCube](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a3d4f5/32.png) [@DrCube](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrCube)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2013, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-upload-a-file-online-and-have-only-certain-people-access-it/667757/3 "2013-09-01T21:15:36Z")
Where the hosting provider and/or the government can’t access it? No. Unless you host it yourself, somebody you don’t know will have access to your files. And if you host it yourself, it’s only as safe as your encryption scheme, so be careful with those encryption keys. EDIT: Mangetout is correct if you’re only trying to keep the general population out. I know dropbox does this, and so do a lot of other companies. Just don’t plan out your rebellion and/or bank robbery this way. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2013, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-upload-a-file-online-and-have-only-certain-people-access-it/667757/4 "2013-09-01T21:15:46Z")
If you have your own domain, you can upload anything to anywhere on it. If there is no link that web crawlers can see, it will remain secret. Give the URL to those you wish to have it, and they can see it just fine. Others, not so much. Sure, if someone gives the link away or posts it somewhere, it may show up in search engines, and there is a very remote possibility that the URL can be generated after trillions of random tries. I guess all depends on how secure it must be. Is it a matter of national security? ---
**Author:** ![EmilyG](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/emilyg/32/364_2.png) [@EmilyG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EmilyG)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2013, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-upload-a-file-online-and-have-only-certain-people-access-it/667757/5 "2013-09-01T21:16:49Z")
I’m wondering if it might be a better idea to just email the file to the people who might like to see it. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2013, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-upload-a-file-online-and-have-only-certain-people-access-it/667757/6 "2013-09-01T21:26:32Z")
> [@EmilyG](#): > > I’m wondering if it might be a better idea to just email the file to the people who might like to see it. Good idea. Safe and secure. (relatively) ---
**Author:** ![tellyworth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/977dab/32.png) [@tellyworth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tellyworth)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2013, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-upload-a-file-online-and-have-only-certain-people-access-it/667757/7 "2013-09-01T22:25:40Z")
> [@Musicat](#): > > If there is no link that web crawlers can see, it will remain secret. This is not true - I’ve seen many people assume it is safe only to discover otherwise. All it takes is for one of your recipients to have a browser search toolbar or other questionable extension, and the URL can leak into public search engines. ---
**Author:** ![LMarie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c68b51/32.png) [@LMarie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LMarie)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2013, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-upload-a-file-online-and-have-only-certain-people-access-it/667757/8 "2013-09-01T22:58:33Z")
With Google Docs or Dropbox, you can share documents and files with specific recipients. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2013, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-upload-a-file-online-and-have-only-certain-people-access-it/667757/9 "2013-09-02T00:14:14Z")
> [@tellyworth](#): > > This is not true - I’ve seen many people assume it is safe only to discover otherwise. All it takes is for one of your recipients to have a browser search toolbar or other questionable extension, and the URL can leak into public search engines. There are MANY ways it can leak into public knowledge, which is why I asked just how secure you needed to be. ---
**Author:** ![Twoflower](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/twoflower/32/22_2.png) [@Twoflower](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Twoflower)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2013, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-upload-a-file-online-and-have-only-certain-people-access-it/667757/10 "2013-09-02T00:36:31Z")
> [@EmilyG](#): > > I’m wondering if it might be a better idea to just email the file to the people who might like to see it. Depends how big it is. If it’s more than a couple of megabytes, email can get clunky. As **LMarie** noted, you can specify who has permission to download it. You can also password-protect the pdf if you have Acrobat. ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2013, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-upload-a-file-online-and-have-only-certain-people-access-it/667757/11 "2013-09-02T00:53:28Z")
> **[Dropbox.com](https://www.dropbox.com/)** > > Dropbox helps you simplify your workflow. So you can spend more time in your flow. ---
**Author:** ![si\_blakely](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d9b06d/32.png) [@si\_blakely](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/si_blakely)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2013, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-upload-a-file-online-and-have-only-certain-people-access-it/667757/12 "2013-09-02T17:03:25Z")
> [@Musicat](#): > > Good idea. Safe and secure. (relatively) SMTP email is one of the least secure protocols for moving data round the internet - the data is passed around in plain text between servers. It is also inefficient and clumsy. As others have noted, there are multiple services offering web-accessible file storage, with a variety of features. If you wish to have specific control of access, people will need to sign up for access, so you may wish to investigate which services make limited demands for sign-up, so as to not overburden your users. Some allow things like Facebook authentication, which may be easier for your users. I have had success with Dropbox, but Skydrive and Google Drive are good, too. YMMV. ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2013, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-upload-a-file-online-and-have-only-certain-people-access-it/667757/13 "2013-09-02T22:02:44Z")
For one-time-only, open a new e-mail account, e-mal the file to that e-mail address, and then reveal the password to your select group so each of them can open i.t. ---
**Author:** ![Bob\_Blaylock](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_blaylock/32/3235_2.png) [@Bob\_Blaylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bob_Blaylock)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2013, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-upload-a-file-online-and-have-only-certain-people-access-it/667757/14 "2013-09-03T02:41:52Z")
[Dropbox will do it.](http://db.tt/behALqg) I don’t know about being able to restrict access to only specific people, but [Dropbox](http://db.tt/behALqg) will certainly let you share anything in a manner that is easily accessible only to those to whom you give the URL at which you’ve shared it. ---
**Author:** ![Seanette](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/seanette/32/9139_2.png) [@Seanette](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Seanette)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2013, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-upload-a-file-online-and-have-only-certain-people-access-it/667757/15 "2013-09-03T02:55:30Z")
Copy will do it too, and is much more generous with space than Dropbox. Hope nobody minds me supplying a referral link that gets both parties an extra 5 gigabytes. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2013, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-upload-a-file-online-and-have-only-certain-people-access-it/667757/16 "2013-09-03T03:03:57Z")
> [@Seanette](#): > > Copy will do it too, and is much more generous with space than Dropbox. > > Hope nobody minds me supplying a referral link that gets both parties an extra 5 gigabytes. Actually, we do. Commercial link removed. ---
**Author:** ![Seanette](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/seanette/32/9139_2.png) [@Seanette](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Seanette)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2013, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-upload-a-file-online-and-have-only-certain-people-access-it/667757/17 "2013-09-03T03:16:03Z")
Sorry. Could have sworn I’d seen such links elsewhere on the board. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2013, 7:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-upload-a-file-online-and-have-only-certain-people-access-it/667757/18 "2013-09-03T07:15:10Z")
[Mailbigfile.com](http://Mailbigfile.com) will handle files up to 2 gigs for free (4 gigs for pro). No special software required; the email contains a link that users click on for access. Files are deleted after a week, so it’s unlikely anyone can find them unless they can access the email. ---
**Author:** ![Duke\_of\_York](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f6c823/32.png) [@Duke\_of\_York](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duke_of_York)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2013, 10:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-upload-a-file-online-and-have-only-certain-people-access-it/667757/19 "2013-09-03T10:35:25Z")
You can use Winrar to compress and password protect. If you use a 15 digit password it will be virtually impossible to crack. You can then put it anywhere online and be confident it can only be opened by the person who has the password.