(Archived) Issues with using Evernote at Work

[mattmorten 0]

I love Evernote, and want to use it at work to increase my productivity. However, I'm aware that this is a cloud-based service, and with that comes possible can of worms.

Though I would obviously not store confidential information on the service (customer data, product information etc), even small fragments of data could potentially get you into hot water.

Example, I might want to write a todo list and a few notes on how I might implement part of a feature I'm writing (I'm a software engineer). Perhaps some details on technical design that have been discussed between developers.

This thread regarding how Evernote corp. can use the data I store also seems to be getting a lot of attention.

I'm just wondering what people's opinions / thoughts are on this issue.

[Metrodon 2,162]

My initial thought is why not just put this in the thread you reference?

My second thought is - if you'd put your data in any other cloud service or indeed email it then Evernote should be fine for you.

[heather 604]

That thread is about someone's personal interpretation of sections of our ToS taken out of context.

That said, whatever corporate guidelines you have about transmission of data should still apply to Evernote.

For example, if you are required to send every client encrypted attachments because of your corporate policy, then encrypt your Evernote attachments similarly, and you won't get into any hot water with your employer.

[Metrodon 2,162]

And this thread continues to reference it...

[heather 604]

This is a different question, that is tangential to the issue in the other thread, so it doesn't need to be merged into that topic.

[CalS 5,013]

Though I would obviously not store confidential information on the service (customer data, product information etc), even small fragments of data could potentially get you into hot water.

YMMV. Create a local folder for your work stuff, it'll never see the cloud. Encrypt anything that might be work related that you want to sync. Also, empty your trash as soon as you delete. Somehow the Trash folder syncs, weird.

[jfwarrior 6]

My second thought is - if you'd put your data in any other cloud service or indeed email it then Evernote should be fine for you.

Some people may use Evernote as a data repository, others as an Everything Bucket, or/and a personal wiki. The last two mentioned may have private/confidential data that people would normally not want the public to see.

[Scooter 11]

I do the offline notebook option. However, it has two problems. Images are not indexed, and offline stuff is stored intermingled with the cloud notebooks. You can't single them out and back them up separately. But I find Evernote so useful, just as a storage place for stuff I don't know what to do with, I still do it. So far, I've never had to restore from a backup. I don't know what evernote would do if did a restore from old data, then tried to sync with the cloud. I would probably overwrite my new cloud data with the old.

[baumgarr 17]

I don't know what evernote would do if did a restore from old data, then tried to sync with the cloud. I would probably overwrite my new cloud data with the old.

No, what should happen is this:

- If the one in the cloud was newer than the local one, and the local one didn't change you'd get the one from the cloud.

- If your local one is newer than the cloud one and the cloud one hasn't changed since you last synchronized, you'd upload your local one to the cloud.

- If both changed your local one would be moved to a "conflicting change" notebook and you'd get the cloud version in the synchronized notebook.

Each note has an update counter that helps to avoid overwriting newer data with old.

[BurgersNFries 2,407]

Some people may use Evernote as a data repository, others as an Everything Bucket, or/and a personal wiki. The last two mentioned may have private/confidential data that people would normally not want the public to see.

As metrodon said, if you'd email it, then there's no reason to not put it in Evernote, since EN has the same security as email. OTOH, if it's something you'd not email, then that would be a use case for a local (non-sync'd) notebook.

So far, I've never had to restore from a backup. I don't know what evernote would do if did a restore from old data, then tried to sync with the cloud. I would probably overwrite my new cloud data with the old.

If you start from an old Evernote database, the notes that are sync'd to the EN cloud will be downloaded to the desktop. IOW, any additions/changes/deletions will be done on the desktop with the old database. If in doubt, check your notes with the web client, which is the "source of all truths." Exceptions are any changes/additions/deletions done to the old database that were never sync'd. If there are any discrepancies, they end up in a "conflicting notes" notebook, on the desktop. And, if in doubt, always make a backup of the database before sync'ing.

IMO, if you have a very old database, on one computer (IE netbook used occasionally), it's just easier/faster to copy the exb file from my desktop computer to the netbook. (Windows version.)

[Scooter 11]

I back it up every few days. So the database is never horribly old.