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<div class="" id="magicdomid2"><span class="author-p-3252">The
Thunderbird project has built a feature to make it easier for
users to send large files to their correspondents. The feature
has been discussed as part of the normal Thunderbird project
management process for over a year. The feature page is at:</span></div>
<div class="" id="magicdomid3"><br>
</div>
<div class="" id="magicdomid4"><span class="author-p-3252"></span><span
class="author-p-3252 url"><a
href="https://wiki.mozilla.org/Features/Thunderbird/BigFiles">https://wiki.mozilla.org/Features/Thunderbird/BigFiles</a></span></div>
<div class="" id="magicdomid5"><br>
</div>
<div class="" id="magicdomid6"><span class="author-p-3252">(although
the most punchy motivation is best explained by XKCD: </span><span
class="author-p-3252 url"><a
href="http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/file_transfer.png">http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/file_transfer.png</a></span><span
class="author-p-3252"> )</span></div>
<div class="" id="magicdomid7"><br>
</div>
<div class="" id="magicdomid8"><span
class="author-g-wuyn7lrz122zljz122z0e37h">Thunderbird </span><span
class="author-p-3252">detects when users are about to send large
attachments, and lets users opt-in to the feature (called File</span><span
class="author-g-wuyn7lrz122zljz122z0e37h">l</span><span
class="author-p-3252">ink). If the user opts in, Thunderbird </span><span
class="author-g-wuyn7lrz122zljz122z0e37h">makes it easy for the
user to create or connect to a storage service like YouSendIt,
and then upload attachments to those services, if they wish. The
links to those attachments are then automatically embedded into
the email.</span><span class="author-p-3252"> All of the service
providers have free plans</span><span
class="author-g-wuyn7lrz122zljz122z0e37h">.</span></div>
<div class="" id="magicdomid9"><br>
</div>
<div class="" id="magicdomid10"><span class="author-p-3252">This
thread is specifically to inform a broader set of community
members. We believe the feature aligns with our Privacy
Principles (</span><span class="author-p-3252 url"><a
href="https://wiki.mozilla.org/Privacy#Mozilla.27s_Privacy_Principles%29">https://wiki.mozilla.org/Privacy#Mozilla.27s_Privacy_Principles)</a></span><span
class="author-p-3252">, matches user expectations, and moves the
Mozilla Mission forward.</span></div>
<div class="" id="magicdomid11"><br>
</div>
<div class="" id="magicdomid12"><span class="author-p-3252">You can
try the feature out with Thunderbird Beta builds, available at:
</span><span class="author-p-3252 url"><a
href="http://www.mozilla.org/en-US/thunderbird/channel">http://www.mozilla.org/en-US/thunderbird/channel</a></span></div>
<div class="" id="magicdomid13"><br>
</div>
<div class="" id="magicdomid14"><span class="author-p-3252">It is
important to note that attachments are not stored on Mozilla
servers, and the partners service come with their own privacy
policies, terms of service, and that the feature has already
gone through privacy, security, and policy reviews.</span></div>
<div class="" id="magicdomid15"><br>
</div>
<div class="" id="magicdomid16"><span class="author-p-3252">FAQs:</span></div>
<div class="" id="magicdomid17"><br>
</div>
<div class="" id="magicdomid18"><span class="author-p-3252">Q: Does
Mozilla have any server-side data about which users have picked
what provider?</span></div>
<div class="" id="magicdomid19"><span
class="author-g-wuyn7lrz122zljz122z0e37h">A: No.</span></div>
<div class="" id="magicdomid20"><br>
</div>
<div class="" id="magicdomid21"><span
class="author-g-wuyn7lrz122zljz122z0e37h">Q: What storage
services are currently supported?</span></div>
<div class="" id="magicdomid22"><span
class="author-g-wuyn7lrz122zljz122z0e37h">A: Right now, we're
supporting YouSendIt. The UbuntuOne</span><span
class="author-p-3252"> and SpiderOak</span><span
class="author-g-wuyn7lrz122zljz122z0e37h"> storage services </span><span
class="author-p-3252">are planned to </span><span
class="author-g-wuyn7lrz122zljz122z0e37h">be </span><span
class="author-p-3252">a</span><span
class="author-g-wuyn7lrz122zljz122z0e37h">d</span><span
class="author-p-3252">ded</span><span
class="author-g-wuyn7lrz122zljz122z0e37h"> in future releases.</span></div>
<div class="" id="magicdomid23"><br>
</div>
<div class="" id="magicdomid24"><span
class="author-g-wuyn7lrz122zljz122z0e37h">Q: What about
encryption? Can these storage services view my attachments?</span></div>
<div class="" id="magicdomid25"><span
class="author-g-wuyn7lrz122zljz122z0e37h">A: Unless you've
encrypted the file before uploading, the storage services will
be able to access the file you've uploaded - as will anybody who
obtains the link to the attachment.</span><span
class="author-p-3252"> Users should decide on their own which
service provider they trust with that responsibility. It should
be noted that attachments sent using "normal" means are
typically legible by anyone in the SMTP chain, and uploads to
the service provider happen</span><span
class="author-g-wuyn7lrz122zljz122z0e37h"> separately</span><span
class="author-p-3252"> over HTTPS</span><span
class="author-g-wuyn7lrz122zljz122z0e37h">.</span></div>
<div class="" id="magicdomid26"><br>
</div>
<div class="" id="magicdomid27"><span
class="author-g-wuyn7lrz122zljz122z0e37h">Q: Can you support
service provider X or protocol Y?</span></div>
<div class="" id="magicdomid28"><span
class="author-g-wuyn7lrz122zljz122z0e37h">A: We've got plans for
supporting SpiderOak and UbuntuOne in the future. We also have
an <a href="https://wiki.mozilla.org/Big_File_Providers">Up-for-grabs
project</a> </span><span
class="author-g-wuyn7lrz122zljz122z0e37h url"><a
href="https://wiki.mozilla.org/Big_File_Providers"></a></span><span
class="author-g-wuyn7lrz122zljz122z0e37h"> available if anybody
would like to try adding support for more services or protocols.
Developer documentation for the Filelink feature can be found
here: </span><span class="author-g-wuyn7lrz122zljz122z0e37h
url"><a
href="https://developer.mozilla.org/en/Thunderbird/Filelink_Providers">https://developer.mozilla.org/en/Thunderbird/Filelink_Providers</a></span></div>
<div class="" id="magicdomid29"><br>
</div>
<div class="" id="magicdomid30"><span
class="author-g-wuyn7lrz122zljz122z0e37h">Q: What happened to
supporting Dropbox?</span></div>
<div class="" id="magicdomid31"><span
class="author-g-wuyn7lrz122zljz122z0e37h">A: </span><span
class="author-p-3252">We'd love to support Dropbox, but have not
been able to reach agreement with them yet. It should be clear
that free attachment hosting costs service providers money, so
each provider needs to opt-in as well to being built-in to
Thunderbird.</span></div>
<div class="" id="magicdomid32"><br>
</div>
<div class="" id="magicdomid33"><span
class="author-g-wuyn7lrz122zljz122z0e37h">Q: I don't like the
idea of storing my files with third-parties like this... do
regular attachments still work?</span></div>
<div class="" id="magicdomid34"><span
class="author-g-wuyn7lrz122zljz122z0e37h">A: Regular email
attachments still work the same as they always have. We've just
given you the ability to choose to upload large attachments
somewhere, if you wish. Thunderbird's notion of what a large
file is defaults to 1MB, but can be customized in the Attachment
pane of the Preferences dialog. The offer to upload can also be
disabled entirely.</span></div>
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