Earlier quoted context omitted.
There are infinite ways on how to inform users of a new feature and ask to activate it.
And nearly all of them are annoying and disrupt my flow.
cookie popups that don't even work
Tell HN: Notion Desktop is monitoring your audio and network
91–100 of 175 posts
Re: Tell HN: Notion Desktop is monitoring your audio and network
#92Earlier quoted context omitted.
Why? I don't understand the objection to this. If the app was sending off any data to Notion without consent, that would obviously be a privacy issue, but why is it a problem for a desktop app to simply check if your mic is being used and offer to record?
The application is almost certainly sending off data to Notion without consent, you just wouldn't be able to tell. If a company is willing to do even small privacy violations, I do not trust them at all. Feel free to run OpenSnitch or LittleSnitch - most apps are opening connections to many domains you won't recognize. Your guess is as good as anyone's what data they're exfiltrating. That is, of course, unless you us…
That's just entirely based on the "almost certainly" doing all the work. You're complaining about a hypothetical situation.
> you just wouldn't be able to tell.
You can setup a local web proxy and tell us. Also check the sources since it's an electron app.
Re: Tell HN: Notion Desktop is monitoring your audio and network
#93Hey! 1. Notion records audio only during your use of the Meeting Notes feature. Here are the docs: https://www.notion.com/help/ai-meeting-notes 2. Notion desktop app has notifications about meetings that ask you if you want to use Meeting Notes, it recognizes this by detecting that your microphone is on (i.e. it does not listen to audio coming from your microphone). This feature is a setting in preferences btw, under…
To elaborate: The Notion desktop app will observe if there is a process running on your computer that is actively using your microphone, such as Zoom. Notion does not and cannot listen to the audio coming from your microphone ambiently or snoop on the signal received by another application. This detection is done purely based on the existing of a process using your microphone, not on the audio coming from the microph…
It is not genuine to say that Notion cannot listen in. Notion can listen in. Anytime it wants. Yes on Macs an indicator will be displayed - but not always prominently depending on what other apps/devices are being used (for example using continuity camera)
Source: I built the same listening infrastructure into other meeting note taking apps. Our team spoke at length about this security issue with Apple.
Re: Tell HN: Notion Desktop is monitoring your audio and network
#94Earlier quoted context omitted.
To elaborate: The Notion desktop app will observe if there is a process running on your computer that is actively using your microphone, such as Zoom. Notion does not and cannot listen to the audio coming from your microphone ambiently or snoop on the signal received by another application. This detection is done purely based on the existing of a process using your microphone, not on the audio coming from the microph…
Make it opt-in and this would be not an issue.
If they made borderline "features" like this opt-in, no one would and then the people driving this won't get the career prospect boost of shipping a new feature.
Re: Tell HN: Notion Desktop is monitoring your audio and network
#95Earlier quoted context omitted.
Make it opt-in and this would be not an issue.
Notion doesn't like making things opt-in. A feature that's opt-in will get like 1% of the use of a feature that's opt-out. A happier middle ground would be to enable by default and show a "I don't like this, pls turn it off" button the first few times. EDIT: shouldn't single out any specific role here. We think opt-out, enable-by-default makes a feature have far greater total utility. But we could do more to provide…
> A feature that's opt-in will get like 1% of the use of a feature that's opt-out.
Well... yeah. It's either because the benefits of opting in aren't communicated well enough or that users just don't actually want it.
For AI meeting notes, I'd imagine it's the latter.
Re: Tell HN: Notion Desktop is monitoring your audio and network
#96Hey! 1. Notion records audio only during your use of the Meeting Notes feature. Here are the docs: https://www.notion.com/help/ai-meeting-notes 2. Notion desktop app has notifications about meetings that ask you if you want to use Meeting Notes, it recognizes this by detecting that your microphone is on (i.e. it does not listen to audio coming from your microphone). This feature is a setting in preferences btw, under…
Can you give me a source beyond "just trust me, bro"?
Re: Tell HN: Notion Desktop is monitoring your audio and network
#97I’ve come to hate Notion with passion because of its abysmal performance, but I still pay for it for my small business. My non-technical employees use it as a database for clients, tasks, payments etc. I tried to research replacements several times, and still haven’t found anything good. Sometimes I wonder if I should build my own.
There are many suggestions already let me through in one more:
Affine : https://affine.pro/
You can self host too if you like. Not all features as Notion but comes very close. Seems more private too compared to Notion.
I am also looking for more private and secure Notion alternatives. My company doesn’t allow using Notion.
I like templates, tasks, scrum etc. which I use for personal use. But I am reluctant on saving any personal information in it.
Re: Tell HN: Notion Desktop is monitoring your audio and network
#98Hey! 1. Notion records audio only during your use of the Meeting Notes feature. Here are the docs: https://www.notion.com/help/ai-meeting-notes 2. Notion desktop app has notifications about meetings that ask you if you want to use Meeting Notes, it recognizes this by detecting that your microphone is on (i.e. it does not listen to audio coming from your microphone). This feature is a setting in preferences btw, under…
Why didn't Notion ask for my affirmative consent before monitoring my network traffic?
Are there other cases where Notion is monitoring my network traffic? If so, what are they?
Re: Tell HN: Notion Desktop is monitoring your audio and network
#99Earlier quoted context omitted.
Does any of that microphone detection stuff send anything over the network to Notion to indicate that the check was done, plus the check's results?
let me look EDIT: no, there's no transmission of logs or analytics events besides a check to see if the feature is enabled. We only transmit some data if you ask Notion to record.
Thanks for the answer.
Just want to clarify for pedantic reasons - is there transmission regardless of whether it's enabled or disabled? And does that happen only if someone asks Notion to record?
Re: Tell HN: Notion Desktop is monitoring your audio and network
#100If anyone is looking for an alternative to Notion without the bloat, I’m building https://docmost.com . It has a nice UI, real-time collaboration, diagrams support and more. You can self-host it too.
I’m wondering if integrating this with nocodb mentioned above would work, as i also use databases in documents.
You could use the Iframe embed feature to embed your NocoDB databases.