When research data is collected from study participants or other data providers, a common challenge arises: how to securely and conveniently transfer the data to the researcher. Nextcloud provides an easy solution for this whenever the transferred data does not contain personal data related to specific groups or other highly sensitive or confidential information.

Example 1: Collecting data using the Nextcloud's File drop link

You can create a new folder in Nextcloud and open a sharing link to it with File drop rights. The File drop link works as a letterbox to Nextcloud for the data. Start by clicking the sharing icon to the right of the folder that you want to share:

Then, create a general sharing link from the plus icon in the Share link menu. Alternatively, you can send the link directly to the recipient's email by using the email address field in the Share link menu:

In the share settings menu, select 'File drop'. You can manage the rest of the settings to you liking at the same time, e.g., change or inactivate the password and the expiration date:

The link can be password-protected and you can set an expiry date if you wish. You can also leave out the password and expiry date.

Then forward the link to the person who will transfer the material to you. In this example, we will first copy the link to the message sent to the recipient via the note:

The receiver first opens the link in their browser:

Then, they get to drop the files or compressed .zip folders in the browser window by dragging them from their file explorer to the drop window:

When the person transfers the files they need to keep their sending device on and connected to the web during the file drop. 

Example 2: Sharing data for editing and collecting the edited data back

In this example, the recipient needs editing rights to the entire contents of the folder. He also needs access to restore the files he has edited to a specific subfolder.

The main folder is first shared with the recipient using a share link with the desired settings. Note that you can edit the expiration date or remove it completely by unchecking the Set expiration date box: 

Then, File drop rights are created to the subfolder where the person needs to return the edited files, and the file drop link is sent to the receiver either separately or by using the email address field in the Share link menu:

This way, the recipient receives two separate links, the first granting them access to the whole main folder and the second one with which they can drop the edited material back to Nextcloud.