Curious E-Mail from Faithlife

I got it too - very odd. I almost wondered if it was a phishing email for a little bit.

I received the same thing. Very odd...

Willie

I also received the same message and was equally perplexed.

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/831356#Comment_831356

Steve (and others), I'm sorry for the confusion. Thanks for letting us know. This email was supposed to go to inactive customers who purchased a base package but haven't used it in a while. We continue to hear from people who bought Logos years ago and lost the CD-ROM or DVD-ROM and think we've lost access to the software and their resources. They're surprised and delighted to know that they can download the current free engine and get access to all of their resources at no charge. We also hear from people who primarily or exclusive use mobile devices and don't know that we have free mobile apps that they can access their resources on. We were trying to help more inactive customers understand this. I'm not sure how you would have received this email. It was supposed to go only to people who had a prior base package purchase and no recent software usage activity (in the last 6 or 12 months, I think). We'll look into it and see if we can figure out what went wrong. I'm again sorry for the confusion.

Fasil

The same here Steve!

J. Jackson

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/831356#Comment_831356

Me too, and I'm a daily user.

George Somsel

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/831441#Comment_831441

Me too, and I'm a daily user.

Being "a daily user" is different from having purchased anything. Unless you purchase something Logos has no way to know that you are a user.

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/831457#Comment_831457

Unless you purchase something Logos has no way to know that you are a user.

We look at purchase/transaction activity and application usage activity separately.

George Somsel

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/831466#Comment_831466

Unless you purchase something Logos has no way to know that you are a user.

We look at purchase/transaction activity and application usage activity separately.

Does this then mean that you DO track usage?

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/831468#Comment_831468

I suspect Phil didn't mean that the way it sounded, as the EULA states "Logos reserves the right to anonymously track and report users' activity inside of the Application so that we may better understand how users use the application and how best to deliver future enhancements. " The key word is anonymously. It would be a very grave matter if they were tracking activity inside the app by user.

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/831468#Comment_831468

Does this then mean that you DO track usage?

He will have to clarify, but it should be clear that when you log in using your credentials, that information is sent to FL. That is the point of logging in: you gain access to the resources you have paid for, FL verifies that you are abiding by the licensing agreement. Else there is nothing preventing someone from selling access to their account (i.e. home-brew "logos cloud").

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/831506#Comment_831506

Does this then mean that you DO track usage?

He will have to clarify, but it should be clear that when you log in using your credentials, that information is sent to FL. That is the point of logging in: you gain access to the resources you have paid for, FL verifies that you are abiding by the licensing agreement. Else there is nothing preventing someone from selling access to their account (i.e. home-brew "logos cloud").

True, but that's much different than tracking activity by user, which is not stated in the EULA.

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/831514#Comment_831514

Installing the software on a computer and logging in is the most fundamental activity a user can do, and certainly FL would track that.

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/831533#Comment_831533

Installing the software on a computer and logging in is the most fundamental activity a user can do, and certainly FL would track that.

That's not what their promise in the EULA says - that is NOT anonymous. And the reason that would get people upset is, if they are tracking that by user, what else - notes? prayers?

Phil Gons, any comment on what or if anything is tracked in our activity beyond anonymous information not tied to us?

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/831537#Comment_831537

That's not what their promise in the EULA says - that is NOT anonymous. And the reason that would get people upset is, if they are tracking that by user, what else - notes? prayers?

I don't speak for FL, nor do I know what their practice is. I don't know why it would be controversial, however. FL has a right to know which devices you have installed the software on. Otherwise, you could sell access to your account to hundreds.

That is not the same thing as knowing that alabama24 performed a search for such a topic.

George Somsel

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/831549#Comment_831549

I don't speak for FL, nor do I know what their practice is. I don't know why it would be controversial, however. FL has a right to know which devices you have installed the software on. Otherwise, you could sell access to your account to hundreds.

You still can. Some have Logos installed on more than one PC. Some even (gasp !) have installed it on a MAC too. [;)]

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/831549#Comment_831549

That's not what their promise in the EULA says - that is NOT anonymous. And the reason that would get people upset is, if they are tracking that by user, what else - notes? prayers?

I don't speak for FL, nor do I know what their practice is. I don't know why it would be controversial, however. FL has a right to know which devices you have installed the software on. Otherwise, you could sell access to your account to hundreds.

That is not the same thing as knowing that alabama24 performed a search for such a topic.

I think having software which reports on user accounts greater than 'x' number of logins for investigation of license violation is a little different beast, so maybe we quibble.

The bigger issue here is, no reply at all from Faithlife on what non-anonymous information is being collected, what activity by user, if any. That's not a good sign. Since Phil brought up the nebulous language, why wouldn't he put this to rest? Troubling.

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/831587#Comment_831587

Since Phil brought up the nebulous language, why wouldn't he put this to rest? Troubling.

You see nefarious intentions where there are none... The forums aren't a primary place for FL to interact with customers, but rather the forums are designed to be a place to "crowd source" help. Phil likely just hasn't seen your posts.

NB.Mick

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/831589#Comment_831589

You see nefarious intentions where there are none... The forums aren't a primary place for FL to interact with customers, but rather the forums are designed to be a place to "crowd source" help. Phil likely just hasn't seen your posts.

....especially since your discussion took place around 4.a.m Bellingham time - even Faithlife employees need to sleep now and then.

DMB

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/831597#Comment_831597

Well, actually Don's comment was yesterday and then continued. Maybe we're talking Logos nap time after lunch.

But no matter. Passing data to Google Analytics, etc obviates the issue. If users cringe, slightly alter the EULA, and move on.

Respecting customer privacy got the boot in L4.

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/831589#Comment_831589

Since Phil brought up the nebulous language, why wouldn't he put this to rest? Troubling.

You see nefarious intentions where there are none... The forums aren't a primary place for FL to interact with customers, but rather the forums are designed to be a place to "crowd source" help. Phil likely just hasn't seen your posts.

Actually no, but if you take off your apologetic sunglasses :-) you'll realize a FL employee was in the thread and stated what because a misunderstanding of conversation - this is not some obscure thread. Also, if you'll see the initial concerns about what he meant came around 11 AM - noon their time, and it was under full steam by around 2. No worries, I am not a privacy paranoid, but it is a concern if FL is saying one thing and doing another - for a company that professes its transparency it would be nice to have it cleared up and not leave doubt.

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/831609#Comment_831609

Sorry for creating confusion and not clearing it up sooner. I spent most of the day in meetings yesterday and wasn't following the forums closely.

I'll reply shortly.

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/831612#Comment_831612

Don, there's a setting in the desktop app for how you'd like to send feedback about your app usage. It looks like this:

It's also available in the mobile app, and it looks like this:

By default it's set to All, which means your usage feedback is not anonymous. You can set it to anonymous, or you can disable it entirely.

You can learn more at https://www.logos.com/privacy.

The primary intent of the EULA is to tell you what you can do with your license and doesn't cover all of the issues covered in our privacy policy (which tells you what we can do with your private information). You should familiarize yourself with both.

I'll review the EULA with the team and see if it needs to be updated to be more consistent with the privacy policy.

Hope this helps.