Cat Tools and Confidential Documents: 9 Must-Knows Before You Upload

Author: Nadia Hlebowitsh (Spanish & English Literary Translator)

These days we’re bombarded with extremely long “terms and conditions” for everything we use and download. It’s impossible to read them all and know exactly how our data and documents are being handled.

In fact, when Norway hosted a read-a-thon of terms and conditions for the most popular mobile apps, it took nearly 32 hours. And when the BBC read the terms and conditions for 15 popular websites, this task lasted almost nine hours.

Crazy, right?

Here at Termsoup, we want to make our policies as clear as possible, so you have the peace of mind when translating and uploading documents on our platform. We know that as translators you’re often juggling confidential documents that belong to your clients. With Termsoup, you can be sure your work on our platform stays just that - confidential.

Today we’ll give you an overview of our terms, privacy policy and security so you know exactly what to expect.

1. Your content on Termsoup always belongs to you and never can be viewed/downloaded by other users.

Let’s start with the basics. Any content of yours, including original content, translations and comments, belongs to you. As stated in our Terms of Service, we don’t claim ownership over any of your content.

Also, you don’t have to worry that your content will be made public. Only you can browse and download your content. Other Termsoup users don’t have access to view or download it.

2. Termsoup only accesses your content if necessary to fulfill your customer service request (i.e. debugging an issue).

Your next question is likely whether Termsoup can view your content. Like any cloud-based service, the answer is yes - but only when absolutely necessary. For example, if you contact customer service about a bug you’re experiencing, Termsoup might have to see your content to fulfill your request.

Other cases of Termsoup accessing your content may include processing a transaction or optimizing the platform’s functionality. No matter what, Termsoup makes an effort to only access your content in these critical situations.

3. While we collect data about how you work on Termsoup, we never sell or share this data to third parties.

We’re always trying to improve Termsoup and understand how translators use it, which means we collect data on our platform. However, this data is used internally only. We never sell or share this data to third parties (as we spell out in our Privacy Policy).

Your content and data on Termsoup stay there. You don’t have to fret about your content leaking to a third party.

4. You’re the boss of your data. You can modify or delete it if you want.

While we collect data internally, we want you to have control over it. As part of your user rights, you can modify or delete it. If you want, you can even share it with other users. You’re the boss.

5. If you delete your Termsoup account, your content is deleted forever and never sold to third parties.

Another key protection we have in place: if you delete your Termsoup account, your content is deleted forever. There’s no waiting period of several years like other companies. And there’s no small print: it’s not stored by Termsoup in any way.

We don’t sell your content to third parties either. So you don’t have to worry about your old content resurfacing.

6. Word counts and language pairs are visible to other Termsoup users.

Every translator on Termsoup has a profile page. This is similar to a LinkedIn page, where you can detail your name (or nickname), bio paragraph, work experience and portfolio. If you leave them blank, the page will show only how many words you’ve translated for your language pair, the number of translation units and the amount of glossary terms you have (see below):

However, if you want, you can choose to add more profile information. It’s up to you! For example, many translators choose to provide information about their education and work experience. If you decide not to fill in these sections, they will appear blank to other Termsoup users and only your language pair, the number of translation units and the amount of glossary terms will remain public.

7. We use AWS technology to store documents and data on the cloud, which is extremely hard to hack.

As our Security section mentions, our data centers are hosted by Amazon Web Service (AWS) technology. AWS is a professional and popular cloud service used by big names like Netflix, Brooks Brothers, AirBnb, Lyft and the FDA. We’re confident in our cloud-based technology and know your data is secure under AWS.

8. We believe cloud-based tools are safer than desktop software.

Some translators are concerned about the security of cloud-based tools compared to desktop software. However, we think that cloud-based technology is prepared to handle security risks. Clients often send you documents to translate over Gmail, which is a cloud-based service. Why not use a cloud-based service for your translations too?

Desktop software isn’t safer than cloud-based service, especially in today’s world, since you’re often connected to the internet. In this case, desktop apps definitely don’t guarantee safety. While it’s relatively easy for hackers to install ransomware and hack your computer, it’s nearly impossible to do so on AWS servers.

9. We understand the translation industry and treat all your documents as confidential.

As translators ourselves, we know that the content and documents you’re translating on Termsoup often belong to your clients. That’s why we’re extra careful to treat all your documents as confidential.

Whether or not you’ve signed an NDA or confidentiality agreement with a client, you can upload documents to Termsoup worry-free. We do the best we can to protect your content and privacy.

At the end of the day, Termsoup is a secure cloud-based tool with top privacy protections. Now that we’ve recapped our policies, we hope you feel more informed and confident about how Termsoup treats your content. Now you can just focus on translating!