Secure Note Taking
Hi Folks,
I use NValt for note taking on the Mac — a quickly searchable, editable, large store of .txt files — synced across multiple machines and iPhone via dropbox.
Does anyone have a secure encrypted equivalent?
Jim
1Password Version: Not Provided
Extension Version: Not Provided
OS Version: Not Provided
Sync Type: Not Provided
Comments
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@jdc: I feel like I should know this, but I can't for the life of me think of anything that meets both criteria (note syncing and secure storage).
Now, technically that's something 1Password does, but I realize that it isn't as full-featured as some other note-focused apps (Simplenote is one of my long-time favourites). I will say though that if you use iOS devices a lot, be sure to check out its new Secure Note editor.
Personally though, I use 1Password for super-sensitive stuff in Secure Notes, and then Simplenote or Apple's awesome new Notes app for more everyday stuff. Neither one is particularly focused on security features or forthcoming with their security model, but both have native apps and a good web interface, which makes them handy. And they allow some formatting options that go beyond 1Password's plaintext approach.
Really it's a matter of which tool best fits your needs. I'd love to hear what others use. :)
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Yeah, I have heard about Apple's new Notes app being more secure, although the details are scant and vague enough to make me nervous. I'd prefer to have more knowledge and control over how my content is encrypted and secured.
With nvAlt, I can encrypt, and sync this encrypted database on Dropbox, but I've yet to find an iOS app that can work with it — desktop only for the time being. Shame as it works well.
Jim
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Yeah, I have heard about Apple's new Notes app being more secure, although the details are scant and vague enough to make me nervous. I'd prefer to have more knowledge and control over how my content is encrypted and secured.
@jdc: Agreed. Notes is using CloudKit, and CloudKit (and iCloud as a whole) is very secure. My chief reason for any discomfort and my unwillingness to recommend it wholeheartedly is that there just aren't a lot of details available, and it simply hasn't been around long enough. I've tried to find more details myself, but I'm either not looking in the right places in Apple's site or there's simply a dearth of information. :unamused:
I used NValt for a while myself a few years ago, but found it to be overkill for my purposes. That said, I really love Notes so far. Ultimately I'll continue to use it based on my comfort level and knowledge, reserving 1Password for the things I'm not willing to take any chances with.
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Do you know if iCloud is zero-knowledge? Can staff have a gander at content like Dropbox and can Apple be compelled / have the ability to turn over information to governments etc?
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@jdc: They can't. Apple made similar changes in this vein a while back to Messages. A couple relevant bits from Apple's iCloud documentation:
- iCloud Keychain encryption keys are created on your devices, and Apple can't access those keys. Only encrypted keychain data passes through Apple's servers, and Apple can't access any of the key material that could be used to decrypt that data.
- You can choose to disable keychain recovery, which means that iCloud Keychain is kept up to date across your approved devices, but the encrypted data is not stored with Apple and cannot be recovered if all of your devices are lost.
Data is encrypted on the device prior to transit, and then stored encrypted as well; and Apple doesn't have the keys, which are stored on your device. They're pretty serious about this — and not wanting to be a target for hackers or law enforcement. :pirate:
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Oh, and I nearly forgot to mention Notes in particular: the new Notes app (once you convert in iOS 9 or El Capitan) does not store its data in IMAP; it uses CloudKit, which is parallel to iCloud Drive. There's no going back, but I don't want to anyway! :lol:
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