Polishing your writing is essential as a writer, but how do you know if you can trust an editing software like Grammarly? No one wants their information, passwords, or work stolen right from under them. Much less from a popular editing software like Grammarly.
As a writer myself, I need to trust the software I use. You spend hours, days, weeks, months, and sometimes years on your writing projects, so it’s too risky to voluntarily expose your content.
Does Grammarly Steal Your Work?
No, Grammarly does not steal your work. Grammarly is an online editing software used by millions of people all over the world. When you transfer your writing into Grammarly, you expose your work to risk similar to sending an email or storing information on cloud services.
Can Grammarly Steal Your Work?
If Grammarly stole work, it would quickly go out of business. Instead, Grammarly boasts 6.9 million active users. Its entire business model is built on trust, privacy, and security, so I personally don’t think you have anything to worry about when using the software.
I’m not an affiliate for Grammarly, I just use the free version for all of my online writing.
Many writers understandably want to know about Grammarly’s privacy and security protocols. You might even want to ask more questions before giving your information over to online software.
Questions such as:
- Does Grammarly save your work?
- Does Grammarly steal your information and data?
- Does Grammarly steal your passwords?
- Is Grammarly safe?
While I use the free version of Grammarly every day, not everyone trusts the software. For another perspective on Grammarly, check out this 7-minute video by Quidsup on YouTube:
The video is only seven minutes long, but here is the gist:
- For basic emails to friends or family, you can use Grammarly without much risk.
- For private information, such as workplace communication, you might want to avoid Grammarly.
- Conclusion: Grammarly is not worth the potential security and privacy risks.
Does Grammarly Save Your Work?
Ok, so Grammarly doesn’t steal your work, but do they save it somewhere? That’s important to know as your writing may be confidential, personal, or the result of many long hours of labor.
When you send your information to Grammarly, the software stores your information on servers located in the United States.
As a rule of thumb, Grammarly deletes your information after you process it through the software. However, if you save a document in the Grammarly editor, the content remains there until you manually delete it or close your account.
Now, it’s also critical that you understand Grammarly’s terms of service.
Hidden in the dense, complicated language is this paragraph:
You own the intellectual property rights in your User Content. As a result, we need your permission (in legal language, this is called a license) to use your User Content to provide our Site, Software and Services to you.
Grammarly promises to never sell your information or to license it out to third-parties. This all sounds good.
But what rights does this license give Grammarly?
The license grants Grammarly worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free rights to your content for as long as your content is protected under intellectual property laws.
Yes, it sounds scary. Yes, it’s important to know when deciding what content to share with Grammarly. But, should you worry about Grammarly stealing your content? No, I don’t think so. Grammarly uses the license for the purposes of improving its algorithm.
However, Grammarly does state that it can change the terms of service at any time.
How Secure Is Your Information?
Grammarly uses what they call “industry-standard encryption” to protect your information during transfer and while it remains on the site. They also use a series of security features to safeguard your content and information.
At the same time, any transfer of information over the internet comes at a risk.
Grammarly does not (and really cannot) 100% guarantee the safety of your content. This is true of any site or platform you use to send and receive information online, including cloud-based storage such as Google Drive or One Note, or email accounts of any kind.
You can read Grammarly’s full privacy policy to get all of the details.
Does Grammarly Read Your Content?
Maybe you also wonder if Grammarly or its employees read your content. After all, you might want to edit private letters, emails, or other sensitive communication. You might not want anyone snooping on your content.
That’s a very reasonable request and desire.
According to Grammarly’s own privacy policy:
As a rule, Grammarly employees do not monitor or view your User Content stored in or transferred through our Site, Software, and/or Services, but it may be viewed if we believe the Terms of Service have been violated and confirmation is required, if we need to do so to respond to your requests for support, if we otherwise determine that we have an obligation to review it as described in the Terms of Service, or to improve our algorithms as described in the User Content section of our Terms of Service.
Now, that sounds pretty good. It’s important to note, however, that this language leaves employee monitoring protocols up to interpretation. I’ve never personally had an issue with Grammarly (and I’ve used it for years) but it is worth noting.
Does Grammarly Steal Your Personal Information?
Even if Grammarly doesn’t steal your content, you may still wonder if the software steals your personal data. There’s a good reason to be curious: Grammarly itself admits to keeping your personal information on file, even if you choose to delete your account.
I wouldn’t worry too much about it. Standard business protocol insists that companies maintain customer information for certain lengths of time.
Why?
Typically, in case of fraud investigations or to meet the requirements of tax, auditing, or or other legal requirements as established by law. This is customary for businesses, so I don’t think it’s anything that should set off alarm bells for you.
Does Grammarly Steal Your Passwords?
Can Grammarly See Your Passwords?
No, Grammarly does not see or record everything you type. In particular, Grammarly is blocked from accessing your sensitive information such as passwords and credit card information.
Grammarly is not a keylogger. Keyloggers record everything you type, including passwords and billing information. Cybercriminals use keylogger programs to steal information, access private accounts, and empty bank accounts.
Is Grammarly Safe?
Ultimately, what you want to know is if Grammarly is safe.
Based on my personal experience, and Grammarly’s privacy and security protocols, I say, “Yes.” I think you can confidently trust Grammarly as much as you can trust any other online platform for storing and safeguarding your information.
However, no website is invincible to flaws or cyber-attacks. In 2018, loopholes in the Chrome and Firefox Grammarly extension allowed hackers to steal private information and access 22 million user accounts.
Grammarly fixed the flaw in a matter of days, but it’s a reminder that no website is 100% safe.
Most people use Grammarly without a problem but, as with any software or service, some users do experience security issues. One Reddit user posted a personal account of logging into Grammarly to find someone else’s resumes. He managed to track down the person on LinkedIn. The person claimed that they had purchased a shared account on eBay.
Apparently, there is something of a black market for Grammarly accounts on eBay. I assume the access information someone purchases comes from phished Grammarly accounts, premium trials that eventually run out, or stolen credit cards.
Maybe a combination of all three tactics.
I definitely don’t recommend purchasing any accounts on eBay or any other online marketplace. As long as you use a unique and strong password, I think you can confidently trust Grammarly.
Why Does Grammarly Need Full Access to Your Keyboard?
To work effectively, Grammarly needs access to everything you write online—besides sensitive information like passwords, credit card information, email addresses, etc. Otherwise, Grammarly would not be able to check your writing for spelling, punctuation, and grammar issues as you type.
This is true for the Grammarly website, Grammarly extension, and Grammarly keyboard app for your smart device.
As mentioned earlier, Grammarly encrypts your information and transfers it to a secure server for processing. This all happens behind the scenes and requires internet access.
Is Grammarly HIPPA Compliant?
One concern about Grammarly involves HIPPA compliance. HIPPA is the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA). It’s used to protect the health-related information of patients.
Is Grammarly HIPPA Compliant?
No, Grammarly is not HIPPA compliant. Grammarly does not state that it is HIPPA compliant anywhere on its website, extensions, or smart device application. Grammarly fully discloses that it cannot 100% guarantee the security of information placed into its system.
If you’re looking for a HIPPA compliant grammar and spellchecker, you might want to consider Perfect Tense.
Final Thoughts: Does Grammarly Steal Your Work?
In summary, Grammarly does not steal your work, information, passwords, or other sensitive information.
I personally use the free version of Grammarly and have never had any issues with security or privacy. I think your best bet is to create a strong password unique to Grammarly and never share it with anyone. You can also take the additional step of changing your passwords every 30-90 days.
I hope you found this article helpful!
If you enjoyed it, you might also like: