Evernote will not go ahead with changes to its privacy policy, after users expressed concerns that employees would be able to read notes they make using the app.

The update was meant to roll out on 23 January, and would see staff members “exercise oversight of machine learning technologies applied to account content” to develop and improve the service.

“We need to be transparent, admit our missteps, and commit to making the Evernote experience the best it can be,” CEO Chris O’Neill said.

“Our customers let us know that we messed up, in no uncertain terms…. We are excited about what we can offer Evernote customers thanks to the use of machine learning, but we must ask for permission, not assume we have it,” he added.

The firm explained that “while our computer systems do a pretty good job, sometimes a limited amount of human review is simply unavoidable”.

However, Evernote has now said it will not implement this, and instead revise its existing policy to address customer concerns, reinforcing that their data remains private by default.

It will make machine learning technologies available, but employees will not read any note content unless users opt in.