HexDrop: Privacy Preserving, Cross Platform Ephemeral Data Sharing App
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.21512/ijcshai.v3i2.15946Keywords:
privacy, self-hosted, ephemeral, securityAbstract
Online file sharing services is an integral part of modern life. However, existing centralized cloud storage services has several issues in terms of privacy, data breach and data sold to third parties. Furthermore, some of these services are subject to surveillance laws like the CLOUD Act. Existing alternatives such as P2P sharing, lacks cross-platform compatibility and long distance support (over the internet). This paper introduces HexDrop. a unique self-hosted file and data sharing web app that focuses on privacy and ease of use. It uses the seceure TLS protocol and doesn’t store the shared data long term where it will delete the data after the sharing session has ended. Since it is web-based, it ensures seamless compatibility across platform. It’s ability to be self-hosted on local network also provides additional security against data breaches and unauthorized access compared to centralized cloud services.
References
[1] Google, “Privacy Policy – Privacy & Terms – Google,” Google.com, Sep. 16, 2024. https://policies.google.com/privacy (accessed Feb. 28, 2026).
[2] Microsoft, “Microsoft Privacy Statement – Microsoft privacy,” Microsoft.com, 2024. https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/privacy/privacystatement (accessed Feb. 28, 2026).
[3] “Microsoft Privacy Statement – Microsoft privacy,” Microsoft.com, 2024. https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/privacy/privacystatement#mainhowweusepersonaldatamodule (accessed Feb. 28, 2026).
[4] N. N. Neto, S. Madnick, A. M. G. D. Paula, and N. M. Borges, “Developing a Global Data Breach Database and the Challenges Encountered,” Journal of Data and Information Quality, vol. 13, no. 1, pp. 1–33, Jan. 2021, doi: https://doi.org/10.1145/3439873.
[5] IBM, “Cost of a Data Breach Study,” IBM, 2024. https://www.ibm.com/security/data-breach (accessed Feb. 28, 2026).
[6] L. Visakha, “IBM Report: Average cost of a data breach in India touched INR 179 million in 2023,” IBM India News Room, Jul. 24, 2023. https://in.newsroom.ibm.com/IBM-Report-Average-cost-of-a-data-breach-in-India-touched-INR-179-million-in-2023
[7] “How Your Phone Number is Exposed: Phone Number Leaks,” Global Cyber Security Network, Nov. 20, 2024. https://globalcybersecuritynetwork.com/blog/how-your-phone-number-is-exposed-phone-number-leaks/ (accessed Feb. 28AD).
[8] Verizon, “2025 Data Breach Investigations Report,” Verizon Business, 2025. https://www.verizon.com/business/resources/reports/dbir/ (accessed Feb. 28, 2026).
[9] “MSN,” Msn.com, 2025. https://www.msn.com/en-in/lifestyle/smart-living/scam-alert-how-do-scammers-get-your-name-mobile-number-and-complete-details-understand-the-whole-story/ar-AA1x6cFI (accessed Feb. 28, 2026).
[10] E. A. Eloksari, “Spam calls, texts frustrate Indonesian consumers,” The Jakarta Post, Feb. 15, 2022. https://www.thejakartapost.com/paper/2022/02/24/spam-calls-texts-frustrate-indonesian-consumers.html (accessed Feb. 28, 2026).
[11] Transparency Market Research “Data Brokers Market,” www.transparencymarketresearch.com. 2025. https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/data-brokers-market.html
[12] J. Sherman, “Data Brokers and Sensitive Data on U.S. Individuals Threats to American Civil Rights, National Security, and Democracy,” Duke University Sanford School of Public Policy, Durham, North Carolina, 2021. Accessed: 02, 2026. [Online]. Available: https://techpolicy.sanford.duke.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2021/08/Data-Brokers-and-Sensitive-Data-on-US-Individuals-Sherman-2021.pdf
[13] C. Shenkman, S. Bradford Franklin, G. Nojeim, and D. Thakur, “How Law Enforcement and Intelligence Agencies Are Buying Your Data from Brokers,” The Center for Democracy & Technology, Washington, D.C., United States, 2021. Accessed: Feb. 28, 2026. [Online]. Available: https://www.congress.gov/118/meeting/house/116192/documents/HHRG-118-JU00-20230712-SD010.pdf
[14] U.S. Department of Justice, “Criminal Division | CLOUD Act Resources,” www.justice.gov, Apr. 09, 2019. https://www.justice.gov/criminal/cloud-act-resources (accessed Feb. 28, 2026).
[15] M. Perault and R. Salgado, “Untapping the Full Potential of CLOUD Act Agreements,” Csis.org, Jun. 06, 2024. https://www.csis.org/analysis/untapping-full-potential-cloud-act-agreements (accessed Feb. 28, 2026).
[16] D. Winder, “Dropbox Warns Hacker Accessed Customer Passwords And 2FA Data,” Forbes, May 02, 2024. https://www.forbes.com/sites/daveywinder/2024/05/02/dropbox-warns-hacker-accessed-customer-passwords-and-mfa-data/ (accessed Feb. 28, 2026).
[17] Choi, Y. B., L., Y., & LaCroix, K. (2019). Cookies and Sessions: A Study of what they are, how they can be Stolen and a Discussion on Security. International Journal of Advanced Computer Science and Applications, 10(1). https://doi.org/10.14569/ijacsa.2019.0100104
[18] A. Singh, “16 Billion Logins Stolen In Mega Data Breach Threatening Apple, Google And More,” www.ndtv.com, Jun. 20, 2025. https://www.ndtv.com/feature/16-billion-logins-stolen-in-mega-data-breach-threatening-apple-google-and-more-8712948 (accessed Feb. 28, 2026).
[19] “Transparency,” MEGA, May 29, 2025. https://mega.io/transparency#what-is-transparency (accessed Feb. 28, 2026).
[20] “Transparency,” MEGA, May 29, 2025. https://mega.io/transparency#what-is-transparency (accessed Feb. 28, 2026).
[21] A. Heinrich, M. Hollick, T. Schneider, M. Stute, and C. Weinert, “AirCollect,” Proceedings of the 14th ACM Conference on Security and Privacy in Wireless and Mobile Networks, Jun. 2021, doi: https://doi.org/10.1145/3448300.3468252.
[22] “Security Update Guide - Microsoft Security Response Center,” Microsoft.com, 2025. https://msrc.microsoft.com/update-guide/vulnerability/CVE-2025-33073 (accessed Feb. 28, 2026).
[23] “Transport Layer Security (tls),” datatracker.ietf.org. https://datatracker.ietf.org/group/tls/about/ (accessed Feb. 28, 2026).
[24] J. Classen and M. Hollick, “Happy MitM,” arXiv (Cornell University), Jun. 2021, doi: https://doi.org/10.1145/3448300.3467822.
[25] Z. Wang, “Securing Bluetooth Low Energy: A Literature Review,” Harbin University of Science and Technology, Heilongjiang, China. Accessed: Feb. 28, 2026. [Online]. Available: https://arxiv.org/pdf/2404.16846
[26] Chain of Trust - Let’s Encrypt. (n.d.). Letsencrypt.org. https://letsencrypt.org/certificates/
[27] Google Search Central, “Robots.txt Introduction and Guide | Google Search Central | Documentation,” Google Developers, 2025. https://developers.google.com/search/docs/crawling-indexing/robots/intro (accessed Feb. 28, 2026).
[28] Hossain, M. I. (2023). Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC) Methodologies for Information Systems Project Management. International Journal for Multidisciplinary Research, 5(5). https://doi.org/10.36948/ijfmr.2023.v05i05.6223
[29] M. Guri, “Mind The Gap: Can Air-Gaps Keep Your Private Data Secure?,” arXiv.org, 2024. https://arxiv.org/abs/2409.04190 (accessed Feb. 28, 2026).
[30] C. Kerschbaumer, F. Braun, S. Friedberger, and M. Jürgens, “The State of https Adoption on the Web,” doi: https://doi.org/10.14722/madweb.2025.23001.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Marvin Enrico
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:
- Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License - Share Alike that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgment of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgment of its initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work.
USER RIGHTS
All articles published Open Access will be immediately and permanently free for everyone to read and download. We are continuously working with our author communities to select the best choice of license options, currently being defined for this journal as follows: Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike (CC BY-SA)
