Evernote’s CEO Responds To Controversial New Privacy Policy

By now you might have heard about a new controversial privacy policy that Evernote plans on introducing next year. Basically it says that to help with the progress of machine learning, sometimes employees are required to step in, which means that these employees might be able to access and read your notes.

Safe to say that users were not happy, with many saying that they planned to stop using the service. This has prompted a response from Evernote’s CEO Chris O’Neill. According to O’Neill, “Machine learning might sound like science fiction where computers make their own decisions. In reality, machines still need a human to check on them. To get there, Evernote data scientists need to do spot checks as they develop the technology.”

He also adds, “Select Evernote employees may see random content to ensure the features are working properly but they won’t know who it belongs to. They’ll only see the snippet they’re checking. Not only that, but if a machine identifies any personal information, it will mask it from the employee.”

Basically if and when employees are required to access your notes, they won’t know who it belongs to and any personal information will be hidden. Users still have the opportunity to opt out of this experimental feature, but like we said earlier, this doesn’t change the fact that under different circumstances (such as legally required ones), employees will still be able to access your notes.

So what do you guys think of this clarification? Does it make you feel better about using the service, or do you still plan on taking your data and leaving for another platform?

Tyler Lee
Categories: General
Tags: Apps, evernote, Privacy