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Thank you for all you do.
The latest NASs from China offer good value. However, if you
note the EULA and TERMS for many NASs from Chine, e.g., UGREEN:
https://nas.ugreen.com/pages/useragreement
The EULA stipulates specific use of the NAS in section 4.3.
It would be interesting if you reviewed the EULAs and TERMS of USE for NASs for popular NASs. People might be nervous about travel to foreign countries given that I've no idea what resides on a NAS that I own which may violate these terms.
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Thanks for your message — really sharp observation, and I’m glad you brought this up. You’re absolutely right that some of these newer NAS brands, particularly from China like UGREEN, include terms in their EULA that go far beyond what most users expect. The section you’ve highlighted (4.3) in UGREEN’s user agreement, which effectively places conditions on what kind of content you store or share, is a good example of language that would make privacy-conscious users or anyone traveling internationally understandably uneasy.
On the other hand, brands like Synology and QNAP tend to keep their EULAs focused on software licensing and warranties, and don’t impose blanket restrictions on what you can use your hardware for — at least not beyond the obvious (illegal content, hacking, etc.). That makes them feel much more like traditional, neutral hardware/software vendors.
Your suggestion to cover this in more depth is a good one, and something I think more people should be aware of — especially as the value proposition of these budget-friendly NAS systems tempts people away from more established brands. A quick review of terms from Synology, QNAP, UGREEN, and others side-by-side would be very revealing.
Thanks for flagging this — I’ll add it to my list of topics to dig into and cover properly, because it absolutely does matter to people who care about privacy, data sovereignty, and legal risk. In the meantime, if you’re concerned about how your NAS is “seen” when traveling or crossing borders, it’s another good reason to stick to vendors with a more traditional, hardware-focused approach and no cloud/service lock-in.
