Dashlane Review

Dashlane is considered by many as one of the best password managers available and with good reason. It offers a stunning interface and effective performance.It can capture passwords, log you into websites automatically and it also fills out forms seamlessly. Although Dashlane shines in many aspects, it is not a perfect solution and in this review, we will go through the benefits and downsides of Dashlane.

Security and Privacy

Since Dahslane is a proprietary solution instead of an open source one, it is not possible to audit it independently. This means that users would need to trust that the provider has not implemented any backdoors or that it hasn’t weakened the tool on purpose. The good news is that Dashlane uses a high level of encryption and security to keep your information safe. AES-256 encryption is applied to protect passwords and a cryptographic key is in use and stored in RAM for easy access. To generate the key, the OpenSSL PKCS5_PBKDF2_HMAC_SHA1 hash function is used from your Master Password and slated with 10000 versions.

HTTPS is used to establish the communication between the Dashlane Application and the Dashlane servers. Passwords are protected behind a Master Password that is not stored by Dashlane at all. As such, you will need to be very careful with your password because if you forget it, there is no way of retrieving it. While not offering a password recovery option can be inconvenient, from a security perspective, it proves that Dashlane is committed to keep your information safe. Two-factor authentication is supported and if a new device tries to connect to your account, you will receive a warning email. It is also possible to link your Dashlane account to Google Authenticator app on your mobile device.

When it comes to privacy, there are some aspects that will raise an alert among privacy conscious users. It should be noted that Dashlane collects a great deal of data. They claim that the information is gathered to make Dahslane batter and that it is handled in a way in which it is not possible to link the data back to you. Still, they do keep your gender, zip code and year of birth, meaning that you are not truly anonymous and previous studies carried out by privacy experts have showed that it is possible to identify someone using the details that Dashlane claims to keep secure using anonymization techniques. If protecting your privacy is your main goal, the policies of Dashlane will certainly cause concerns.

Features

Dahslane supports Windows and Mac and there are also browser versions for Chrome, Firefox, Safari and Internet Explorer. You can use Dahslane to import passwords from the main browsers or from different password managers that use an exported standard CSV file. Getting started is easy because the app offers a tutorial that takes you through every step of the process. You can manage the passwords from within the main client and it is also possible to store not only passwords, but also financial details, receipts and other information. The desktop version works without issues and you are simply logged in to the websites and the forms are filled in automatically. You would also be asked what logins are required.

The interface is very appealing and all the functions available are neatly organized. There are also mobile apps for Android and iOS. The iOS version supports the option to fill in data directly into Safari with the help of an extension. Android users can use TouchID but only to unlock the Dahslane app. The mobile apps aim make things simple and they feature their own browser, where passwords are saved. Although the browser works well, it is very basic when compared to the most popular options such as Chrome and Firefox. The website is well designed and apart from offering a good selection of information about the application, it comes with a help section that provides in-depth explanation about the features supported. The features available include secure notes, no password recovery, the option to impost existing passwords from your browser, auto-generation of secure passwords, auto-form completion, security breach alters and two factor authentication. Premium users also get password sharing.

Plans

There is a free version that allows you to use all the features supported by Dashlane, but only on one device. The Premium version lets you sync passwords across multiple devices and it costs $39.99 per year. You can get access to multiple cloud-based features like secure sharing, web access to passwords, account backup and you also get priority when it comes to support.

Customer Support

It is possible to get customer support via email, but you can also check the Help section if the reply is taking to long. In some cases, you may need to wait several hours for a reply, so it is worth checking the Help pages on the website before reaching out to the customer support.

Conclusion

Dashlane offers seamless performance on desktop, but the mobile experience has some flaws, particularly when it comes to the Android app. It doesn’t integrate with external browser and the default browser needs improvement. The interface is remarkable, but in terms of security, there are some concerns about the amount of information required. Plus, the support can take several hours to reply.