4 replies to this topic

[Sideway]

Just wondering about the permissions requested by Evernote, especially the following one:

Your personal information
read sensitive log data
Allows an application to read from the system's various log files. This allows it to discover general information about what you are doing with the device, potentially including personal or private information.

I understand why the other ones are needed, but I can't think of why Evernote would need to read the log data.  Can anyone explain?

[Philip Constantinou]

Hi -
Thanks for asking. I wish Android gave us a better way to communicate why we use each piece of data:

PERSONAL INFORMATION:We use "Read Contact Data" to allows the Android application to access the contact list in support of the "email a note" feature. We only access this information when you request "Email a note". The content of your contact list is not sent to Evernote. We use only the email addresses of only to contacts you select. This information is used exclusively to send emails.
"Read sensitive log data" is used if you encounter a problem. In this instance you can select "Send logs" from the "Settings" screen. Evernote sends the logs to your local email client where you can review the information before it is sent to Evernote.

DISCOVER KNOWN ACCOUNTS is used to obtain your email account to pre-populate the registration form's the email field. We don't store the value unless it is submitted for registation. We want the registration process to be as easy as possible.

READ PHONE STATE AND IDENTITY: We access your phone's IMEI number to obtain a unique number for your device when targeting specific one-time upgrades. This information is only sent to Evernote if upgrades apply.

I'm happy to elaborate. In a nut shell: we only access privileged information to make the application easier for the user and we only transmit that information to the server if it's required to provide you a specific service. We only store that information on our server for your benefit.

[Sideway]

Thanks for the clear explanation. Downloading now.

[tounao]

So why not use ACTION_SEND to share notes instead of reading the contact data? That would simplify your codebase, ensure Evernote's compatibility with any future Android device in terms of sharing notes, and make Android users feel more comfortable with the idea of installing the app.

The reading of contact data is the one thing that has kept me (and many other Android users) from installing the Android app.

[hgarg]

"Email a note" sends a request to Evernote service to send the note as an email.
Action_send doesnt guarantee that the catching application would preserve the note format.