Evernote – Control your data

Google’s announcement that Google Reader will not be available after July 1, 2013 reminded us that nothing lasts for ever and that no matter how much we use a service, the providers can do what they say in their terms and conditions… stop the service at any time. The latest Evernote security issues also reminded us that cloud services CAN be hacked. So where does that leave us? Does that mean we should stop using cloud services? Of course not. We just have to take control of our data and make sure that our data can survive a possible stoppage or attack.

One of the reasons I like Evernote is the fact that you have a local copy of your Evernote Data on your Desktop. That means you have more control on your own data. It is the user that specifies which data to sync or share, so if you are concerned about security or think that some notes are too sensitive to go on the net, you can always keep them to your self and on your desktop where you control the security. How to to that? You can specify on creation if a Notebook is Synchronized or Local.

Having your data locally means you can easily make backups. Note that on a Windows desktop all your data are kept locally, whether they are on Synchronized or Local Notebooks. Where are they stored? To find that out go to Tools/Options and under the General tab look at the “Evernote local files” field.

So remember, control and backup your data.