Dropbox CEO Drew Houston calls on Donald Trump to uphold net neutrality

"A lot of us are waiting to see what actually happens," admits Houston

Dropbox CEO Drew Houston has called on US president-elect Donald Trump to uphold the concept of net neutrality when he takes office.

Speaking in London and responding to a question from Computing about what Trump's election might mean for the company, Houston said that it is too soon to tell if Trump will adopt all of the positions he expressed during the election.

"It's pretty wild times… I think a lot of us are waiting to see what actually happens. I mean, there's a lot of speculation about what, from a policy standpoint, is going to change, or not change," he said.

But he added that he hopes that Trump will ensure his government respects privacy and other online rights.

"What we really care about is as long as the fundamental values of upholding our users' privacy and security and the basics around people's rights, and equality and the values on which the country was founded…we hope that all administrations support that."

Houston also touched on suggestions that Trump and his team are already considering the repeal of net neutrality legislation - and possibly even the US communications regulator, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).

"We definitely hope that net neutrality and a lot of the foundational things remain in place," he said.

Ultimately, though, he said that he, like everyone, is unsure what will happen when Trump takes office.

"I think it's so early to tell, positions haven't exactly been consistent so…I don't have a secret window into what exactly is going to happen. I wish I did, but I think we're all just eagerly awaiting to see what the next few years bring."

Beyond the political upheaval in the US, Houston said Dropbox was keen to ensure it maintained its growth in Europe, noting that 31 per cent of its users are in Europe, driven partly by growth in the business market.

Additionally, he said that with only 200,000 of its eight million business users currently paying for the product, there is clearly massive growth potential ahead.

Given this, Dropbox chief operating officer Dennis Woodside, also speaking at the roundtable, said that the company would continue to operate in the region, regardless of the UK's withdrawal from the European Union, which for now has not caused any issues.

"We haven't seen much of an impact [from Brexit] but regardless of what happens the needs of business to collaborate, both within and outside the business, and across borders, those needs are going to remain so we will continue to invest and build our customer base here and see how things turn out."

Finally, Houston also gave some hints that the company may be working on a tool that would allow you to search for content stored in other services directly from Dropbox.

"Stay tuned," he said, when pressed on the matter, adding that Dropbox would have more to add on this topic in the New Year, although he did not specify if he was referring directly to this area directly, or more general product offerings.