We don't allow users to share items from Google Drive externally - Are we unusual?

[David44]

Hi,

 

We have been using Google Drive for a few years now and have never allowed users (staff or students) to share documents/files with users not on our domain. Although this occasionally causes issues or questions, it doesn't seem to be a major barrier to users doing what they need to do. Users can download items from Google Drive and/or print to PDF so there are usually ways around the restrictions anyway. One argument is that if users have to jump through the extra hoops they are less likely to share inappropriately. The other side of that argument is that once you have emailed a PDF to someone, there is no revoking access to it as there would be if it was shared via Google Drive.

 

We got to this position because a previous Headteacher decided we shouldn't allow external sharing, that decision was made before we even started using Google. I expect if this had caused major issues then the decision would have been reviewed but because it hasn't, it wasn't. The users don't miss what they have never had.

 

Do you allow (some of) your users to share externally using either Google or Microsoft 365? Are we outliers here or are we following standard best practice?

 

David.

[jthompson]

By default we don't allow external sharing, but we allow for exemptions for certain individual staff members. This would be for things like inter-school colaboration projects where actual collaboration on files is involved. We make them agree to a discalimer type thing first (single tickbox Google Form) before adding them to group that gives them the extra privileges.

Students, never.

[Theblacksheep]

one account from each school can share externally.

[dhicks]

The other side of that argument is that once you have emailed a PDF to someone, there is no revoking access to it as there would be if it was shared via Google Drive.

 

We allow staff (but not pupils) to share externally - I think we've mostly managed to ween our staff off using third-party sites / tools we have no control / oversight of now that sharing a file with someone is a nice and simple process in Google Drive. Somewhere on the to-do list is to find / write a tool to better audit site-wide external shares.

[DrCheese]

I only allow shares to approved domains, mainly other local schools & the LEA that we deal with.

[TwistedHelixis]

All shared drives are blocked from external sharing but the staff My drive area we allow.

[timbo343]

We block all Shared Drives from sharing externally UNLESS there is a specific reason such as Ofsted or Safeguarding access, but even then if sharing externally is enabled and you invite someone without a Google Account, you get a message that says "Sharing with email addresses without a Google Account isn't supported yet", which is most useful!

 

Sonto get round thus we ask users to share files from their Work Personal Google Drive as we allow files from there to be shared externally.

[jthompson]

The recent update to allow shared drives to be placed into OUs was really handy, as that allows for individual shared drives to be shared externally whilst keeping the defaults elsewhere to internal only.