Evernote and the cloud

Posted by xtabber
Sep 15, 2016 at 11:33 AM

From the Google Cloud Platform blog:

“Evernote evaluated multiple public cloud vendors and specifically chose Google Cloud Platform for our advanced data analytics and machine learning capabilities. By taking advantage of the advancements in machine learning such as voice recognition and translation, Evernote will continue to explore innovative new features that allow users to naturally capture their ideas at ‘the speed of thought.’”

Among other things, that means Google will be able to use Evernote contents in ad targeting algorithms. That sounds scary, but it is really just a drop in the bucket of information Google collects from many sources you may be aware of (e.g., Gmail, Google Search, etc.) or not aware of, such as beacons and trackers from hundreds of independent agencies and data vendors.

Also, Google provides users with explicit options to restrict how collected data about you are used. Microsoft and Apple collect and use data in much the same way but don’t acknowledge that and don’t provide similar clear opt-out options.

If you are really concerned about privacy, consider also that Google’s cloud provides much better security than any standalone firm can provide on their own servers. Would you rather your notes be used for ad targeting or be posted on WikiLeaks by hackers?