(Archived) What does this EULA section mean?

[snsok 0]

There are a couple of worrisome reviews of Evernote on the Mac App Store. One is from an attorney who states that the End User License Agreement makes EN unacceptable to an attorney.

Can someone from EN explain why these phrases are in the EULA? What do you mean "distribute"? How does this apply to the Premium service?

[BurgersNFries 2,407]

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[snsok 0]

Thanks. That works. I had searched on "EULA" which curiously doesn't appear in that thread.

[e-Patient Dave 0]

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That link's dead now. Help? I too am gravely concerned about that phrase - ain't no WAY I'm gonna put content in a system that's allowed to give it to others.

But that's gotta be not what it actually means - need to understand. Where did that thread go?

[e-Patient Dave 0]

To be more specific, here's the language that concerns me (and has concerned others on the Mac App Store). My comments are un-highlighted.

... by using the Service and posting Content, you grant Evernote a license to display, perform and distribute your Content, ...

I think this only means I'm allowing EN to move my data around and put it on the screen of my authorized viewers, and their tech support, right?

EN staff, does this mean any more permission than that? Does this wording in fact authorize you to show it to anyone in the world, even if I've marked it private?

You agree that these rights and licenses ... include a right for Evernote to make such Content available to ... others with whom Evernote has contractual relationships related to the provision of the Evernote Service ...

Does this mean you can show my private notebooks to any of your business partners, carte blanche?

Worse, it includes ", and pass these rights along to,". Does that mean any of your business partners receive the same rights, with no way for me to know who they are?? Or can I request a list of everyone who's accessed my private content and been given these same rights?

And it seems that "these rights" can then be further transmitted by whoever received the content. Tell me I'm wrong?

(I understand the clause about legal obligations - if you get a subpoena, that's one thing. But are you really allowed to hand my private content to others, without limit?)

An answer of "we'd never do that" will of course be laughed at by any lawyer.... :-)

[GrumpyMonkey 4,319]

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That link's dead now. Help? I too am gravely concerned about that phrase - ain't no WAY I'm gonna put content in a system that's allowed to give it to others.

But that's gotta be not what it actually means - need to understand. Where did that thread go?

Hi. It is rather vague, and difficult for the layman to comprehend. I do wish these things were written more clearly, and I certainly do not like the thought of applying these words to my data! However, it is not uncommon, and may well be necessary for any company working in the cloud with our data, so I think that may be one reasons why Evernote also publishes its "three laws" of data protection along with the agreement. They want to make clear that they are in the business of earning our trust to securely and safely store our data.

Here is an old, but relevant post by the head of tech stuff at the company.

http://discussion.ev...ion/#entry47734

I was actually concerned about something else in the OP's post. I would add that if you store anything on the cloud (not just in Evernote) that concerns someone else (the lawyer in the OP's post who wanted to put confidential information about his clients into Evernote), I do hope you will encrypt it with 128-bit or 256-bit encryption first (usually, PDF programs let you do this). I just don't think it is right (and depending on your profession, legal) to release that kind of sensitive information into any third-party hands without encryption.