Aspects include receiving, at a portable storage device, a file from a digital device. The file is stored into an unprotected storage area on the portable storage device and a storage policy associated with the digital device is accessed by the portable storage device. It is determined, by the portable storage device, based at least in part on the portable storage policy, whether to store a copy of the file in a protected storage area on the storage device. Access to the protected storage area is restricted to authenticated users. A copy of the file is stored in the protected storage area in response to determining that a copy of the file should be stored in the protected storage area.