Evernote walks back proposed changes to privacy policy after public outcry
- by Carmen Reese
- in Science
- — Dec 18, 2016
"We announced a change to our privacy policy that made it seem like we didn't care about the privacy of our customers or their notes", Evernote CEO Chris O'Neill said following the privacy policy reversal. This was not our intent, and our customers let us know that we messed up, in no uncertain terms.
In an interview with Fast Company, O'Neill said that "what was interpreted as a policy that would give Evernote employees the opportunity to read users' notes, was actually a reference to using user data, with their permission, to help improve new features". It's becoming more common for companies like Evernote to imbue their software with machine learning technologies to better sift through data, recognize the patterns and habits of users, and display relevant content or perform certain actions based on what the software gleans.
If you're anxious about the content of your notes falling under the eyes of an employee or through a government request, you can always encrypt them so even employees can't read them, but it's still an off-putting practice for some people.
In his statement, O'Neill explains what isn't changing with respect to Evernote's privacy policy, tries to shed more light on why machine learning requires human eyes, and announces privacy protections that weren't mentioned in the original statement. The privacy policy changes would have occurred on January 23, 2017. The new model appears to allow customers to still participate in the machine learning feature without the privacy worries of an Evernote employee potentially peeking at their stored content.
Evernote now says that while it is "excited" about the possibilities offered by machine learning, it is sorry for the breach of privacy implied by this clause.
There, you can uncheck the option to have the company collect your data.
This is due to Evernote needing to prevent fraud, illegal activities, and recognise threats, and that there is no way to block the company completely.
When reached, a spokesperson would not say how many people bolted from the service during the period that the privacy policy was floated. This does not mean all Evernote employees will have access to this data, but it does mean some will.
