Grammarly *IS* a keylogger. They try to dodge it by saying "Grammarly accesses only the text you write while using our product" https://x.com/Grammarly/status...

But if you use the browser extension, then that means every single bit of text you type (excluding passwords, credit card forms, and sites you disable). That is all sent to them.

Now they do need to send your text to their backend to process it. But did you know they save all the text you send? Forever?

Here is where they mention in their Privacy Policy that they save all text processed: #what-information-does-grammarly-collect-about-me class="text-blue-500 hover:underline" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">https://www.grammarly.com/priv...

They also reserve the right to view your text to "to improve our algorithms", or if they "think" you break their ToS. Since they have all your content they are also required to disclose it to law enforcement if necessary.

More weirdly "Your Information may be viewed where necessary to protect the rights, property, or personal safety of Grammarly". Whatever that means? Again, this is all taken straight from their Privacy Policy. #does-grammarly-review-user-content class="text-blue-500 hover:underline" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">https://www.grammarly.com/priv...

They also give themselves a "a nonexclusive, worldwide, royalty-free and fully-paid, transferable and sublicensable, perpetual, and irrevocable license to copy, store and use your User Content". See for yourself in their ToS: #user-content class="text-blue-500 hover:underline" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">https://www.grammarly.com/term...

It's unclear if they categorize "user content" (eg. your text) as personal data. The privacy policy seems to use two different terms. Again, I am not a lawyer™. Would appreciate references or confirmation from someone who knows what they're talking about.

Hopefully GDPR would force them to remove it when requested, but unclear if the user content is included. Again, they aren't specific. They would likely refuse GDPR requests for non-Europeans anyway.

So to summarize: Grammarly admit to saving all processed text, giving themselves a license to do with it literally whatever they want, are unclear about deletion, and by storing your text they have to disclose it to law enforcement if requested.

You can decide if the trade-off are worth it. It's not for me, and it's probably not for you. Muting this thread now lol

@sebmck @rauschma I recently disabled grammarly due to some performance issues I was noticing loading webpages. After reading this, I doubt it'll get re-enabled. Thanks for the breakdown. Cheers!

@sebmck Hi, Sebastian. We’ll address your full thread here: (1/15)

@sebmck Not wanting this to sound/read wrong ... but ... it's nothing special/unusual. Look at Google. They record just about everything they can from you, and if you let them crawl your site, they can use that content however they want. AdPlatforms are similar. It's the net.

@sebmck What happens to texts through Messenger?

@sebmck Much appreciated🍻

@sebmck @billcolrus If people had paid attention during middle school and learned how to craft an elegant sentence or paragraph, this service would be unnecessary.

@sebmck YOU ARE A HYPOCRITE. You're here bashing Grammarly for being a "keylogger," but you work at Facebook, THE NUMBER 1 INTRUDER ON HUMAN PRIVACY IN WORLD HISTORY. Remove the yuuuge log in your own eye before you point at the speck in Grammarly's.

@sebmck Oh the irony!

@sebmck I bought the product before reading their privacy policy. I got really scared when I did. I now only use the desktop version to review things that will be public anyways. I most likely won't pay it for the second year :/ so sad, because it does help me.

@sebmck @howardnoakley I usually avoid things that over advertise over YouTube. Also, whatever records my keyboard tapping is not to be trusted, for me...

@sebmck Thanks for letting us know, I've removed the extension and won't be using their service in the future. Do someone know about any good alternative with better privacy?

@sebmck I'm confused why native English speaker needs service as Grammarly at all. Haven't been reading books during young age? I'm using it and I'm happy since it helps me a lot. It's clear that it logs stuff you write and stores it somewhere..

@sebmck I completely agree. I read the agreement and they say on any website you visit they will read and store that information. They may not be "keylogging" in the traditional sense but they sure as hell are reading all the content on the page and tracking where you go. I noped out...

@sebmck @PGLeonard not great...

@sebmck Wow. Thank you for that!

@sebmck People actually use this? lmfao

@sebmck @rattibha

@sebmck @kf While true, I find it odd that this bothers you but you're willing to continue supporting Facebook by remaining employed there. I guess for some people large paychecks are more important than ethics.

@sebmck Grammarly was removed ages ago from my end. I'm glad I made that choice

@sebmck @Tracinski @threadreaderapp unroll

@sebmck Thanks for digging!!!