UNSOLVED
Is Adobe using your docs?
Adobe's cloud services offers access to a wide range of software and mobile applications. That may be convenient, but they are probably using your files to improve their artificial intelligence capabilities.
According to the fine print in their Terms of Service, storing your work in the cloud means Adobe has access to it and can do whatever it wants with it, eg, "...analyzing your Content and Creative Cloud Customer Fonts … using techniques such as machine learning in order to improve our Services and Software and the user experience".
If this bothers/worries you, you can either stop using their cloud services since Adobe claims they don't analyze docs stored locally on your PC, or you can opt out of their cloud-based "content analysis".
- Sign into your account at account.adobe.com/privacy
- Under Content analysis, turn off Allow my content to be analyzed by Adobe for product improvement and development purposes
- And turn off Share information on how I use Adobe desktop apps to stop Adobe from tracking you on the internet
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Posted February 21st, 2023 05:00
Thank you for the heads up.
...is Foxit any better?
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Posted February 21st, 2023 12:00
Don't know about Foxit. Check their Terms of Service and their website for info about how they use cloud services, if they offer any.
And obviously, this doesn't mean other cloud services aren't doing the exact same thing Adobe is doing with their Content Analysis...
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Posted February 21st, 2023 13:00
It's not in the fine print, I wondered if you maybe had a åersonal use experience.
I keep my documents on a different cloud service, I recently moved to Proton Drive to enjoy better privacy even if it's a rather green service and there is no app for Windows, but I believe in their project and their VPN is wonderful, so I decided to give it a go.
I have been considering dropping Adobe all together for a while now, I see Dell is offering Foxit among other apps, so I was wondering if it is a dependable solid software or some low quality solution like PDFelement... I have never heard of it before. I have been trying Nitro PDF Pro for weeks now but it is not growing on me...
But yeah this is OT. Just talking out loud.
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Posted February 21st, 2023 17:00
I know about Foxit, but no personal experience using it.
I used Nitro PDF Reader for many years on my Win 7 PC, back when it was totally free. For me, it was much more flexible for editing text in pdf files, adding comments, merging pdf files etc etc than Adobe Reader.
Tried to install the same Nitro Reader version when I got this Win 10 PC, but it refused to install, saying I had to buy the current version, so I gave up. There have been times when I'm desperate to do something with a pdf file, so I pull the Win 7 PC out the closet, boot up, and do whatever easily/quickly, rather than fight with Reader, which has a habit of crashing and losing my edits.
FWIW, I don't use any cloud services for anything. I have confidential client files on my PC and can't risk storing them anywhere other than on my own backup drives. Microsoft, Adobe, Google, etc etc already spy on us too much, so why would I just hand files over to them?
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Posted February 22nd, 2023 01:00
@joe53 wrote:
I do note that Foxit Reader is software from a mainland China company. I personally would not care to trust any software from there.
Yes, there is that. Thanks for pointing it out.
I have tried to remove all software from China, Russia (Adguard...) and the like. I think I'm quite ahead of the process.
Still this pdf thing is bugging me. Nitro is from AUS, but is not that nice and it costs a lot for someone who only needs basic editing tools and twice/thrice a year a decent OCR. 143 euros a year for that feels so stupid. And Adobe charges 190 a year or even 290 if I need OCRs. It feels like a waste of money.
I guess it's time to give the old British/Canadian PDF Xchange another try and see if it's still a thing!
joe53
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Posted February 22nd, 2023 00:00
I used Foxit Reader, but dumped it about 10 years ago when it started bundling unwanted toolbars with its installer. Have no subsequent experience with it.
I do note that Foxit Reader is software from a mainland China company. I personally would not care to trust any software from there.