{"id":22589,"date":"2024-04-05T18:23:36","date_gmt":"2024-04-05T14:23:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/me-en.kaspersky.com\/blog\/?p=22589"},"modified":"2024-04-05T18:23:36","modified_gmt":"2024-04-05T14:23:36","slug":"top-encrypted-todo-and-note-taking-apps","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/me-en.kaspersky.com\/blog\/top-encrypted-todo-and-note-taking-apps\/22589\/","title":{"rendered":"Keep it under wraps: encrypted note-taking apps and to-do lists"},"content":{"rendered":"

Peeking into someone\u2019s personal diaries or notebooks has always been seen as an invasion of privacy. And since to-do lists and diaries went digital, it\u2019s not just nosy friends you have to worry about \u2014 tech companies are in on the action too. They used to pry into your documents to target you with ads, but now there\u2019s a new game in town: using your data to train AI. Just in the past few weeks, we learned that Reddit<\/a>, Tumblr<\/a>, and even DocuSign<\/a> are using or selling texts generated by their users to train large language models. And in light of recent years\u2019 large-scale ransomware incidents<\/a>, hacking of note-taking apps and a mass leak of user data \u2014 your data! \u2014 is a possibility you shouldn\u2019t ignore.<\/p>\n

So, how do you keep your digital notes both convenient and secure? Enter end-to-end encryption. You might be familiar with the concept from secure messaging apps<\/a>: your messages can only be decrypted and viewed on your device and the device of the person you\u2019re texting. The company running the service can\u2019t see a thing because they don\u2019t have the decryption key.<\/p>\n

Although most users prefer note apps that come with their phones (like Apple\u2019s Notes) or office suite (like Microsoft OneNote), these apps aren\u2019t exactly Fort Knox when it comes to privacy. Some, like Google Keep, don\u2019t even offer end-to-end encryption. Others, such as Apple\u2019s Notes, support it for individual notes or folders. That\u2019s why there are dedicated, albeit lesser-known apps for truly confidential notes. Let\u2019s take a look at a few and see how they stack up.\n<\/p>\n

Joplin<\/h2>\n

Platforms:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Windows (32\/64 bit), macOS (Intel\/Apple Silicon), Linux, iOS, Android<\/p>\n

Personal license:<\/strong> free<\/p>\n

Sync options:<\/strong> proprietary Joplin Cloud, Dropbox, ownCloud, Nextcloud, OneDrive, S3, WebDAV via plug-ins<\/p>\n

Native platform sync:<\/strong> starts at \u20ac2.99\/month<\/p>\n

Open format:<\/strong> no, but you can export to text<\/p>\n

Open source:<\/strong> yes<\/p>\n

Website:<\/strong> joplinapp.org<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Joplin\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Joplin feels like it was designed by someone who likes the idea behind Evernote, but who has been put off by the bloat and closed-source nature of that app in recent years. Notes are stored in markdown text format. Joplin supports attachments, nested folders, tags, and notebooks. There are just two templates: \u201cnote\u201d and \u201cto-do list\u201d. Searching is lightning fast.<\/p>\n

Syncing between devices relies on \u201cdrivers\u201d \u2014 basically plug-ins written for each service. Joplin\u2019s developers maintain almost a dozen of these drivers for all the popular sync services, such as Dropbox. Smooth collaboration and extra features such as emailing a note to yourself require a subscription to the proprietary Joplin Cloud, but it\u2019s pretty affordable. Students and teachers get a 50% discount.<\/p>\n

End-to-end encryption is disabled by default, but once you turn it on, your entire database and all attachments are encrypted automatically. There\u2019s a slight quirk: on a PC, the developers have made an odd architectural choice by storing attachments in both encrypted and unencrypted versions.<\/p>\n

Joplin has over 200 plug-ins to add features, but setting them up can be a bit of a hassle.<\/p>\n

Recently, the developers added text recognition for images. However, since notes are encrypted, the server can\u2019t read them, so searching within photos and PDFs only works after processing the note on your computer.<\/p>\n

Joplin can import notes in the proprietary Evernote format and export all data as sets of plaintext files.\n<\/p>\n

Obsidian<\/h2>\n

Platforms:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Windows (32\/64 bit, ARM), macOS (Intel\/Apple Silicon), Linux, iOS, Android<\/p>\n

Personal license:<\/strong> free<\/p>\n

Sync options:<\/strong> proprietary service, FTP, Dropbox, S3, and other services via plug-ins<\/p>\n

Native platform sync:<\/strong> starts at $4\/month<\/p>\n

Open format:<\/strong> yes<\/p>\n

Open source:<\/strong> no<\/p>\n

Website:<\/strong> obsidian.md<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Obsidian\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Obsidian differs from other note-taking apps through its strong emphasis on organization. It\u2019s super easy to link notes together, create groups and hierarchies, and even build mindmaps in canvas mode. Each note is just a text file stored locally, so you can work on any of them in other apps too.<\/p>\n

Obsidian also has a thriving online community, which has built over 1500 plug-ins. These let you connect Obsidian to dozens of external services, handle specific types of notes (from recipes to chemical formulas), automatically process text with ChatGPT, and much more.<\/p>\n

To sync your data between devices, you can subscribe to Obsidian\u2019s own paid service, use a third-party plug-in, or just store your notes in a shared cloud folder on Dropbox or OneDrive. Of these, only the native Obsidian Sync service provides encryption. When you enable sync, you can choose between \u201cmanaged\u201d and \u201cend-to-end\u201d encryption. It goes without saying that the latter is the right choice.<\/p>\n

You can import notes from a bunch of different formats using a dedicated plug-in created by the Obsidian team. These include Notion, Evernote, Apple Notes, Microsoft OneNote, and Google Keep.<\/p>\n

Students and teachers get a 40% discount.\n<\/p>\n

Standard Notes<\/h2>\n

Platforms:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Windows (64 bit), macOS (Intel\/Apple Silicon), Linux, iOS, Android, Web<\/p>\n

Personal license:<\/strong> free<\/p>\n

Sync options:<\/strong> native or self-hosted<\/p>\n

Native platform sync:<\/strong> starts at $7.5\/month ($90 billed annually)<\/p>\n

Open format:<\/strong> no, but you can export to text<\/p>\n

Open source:<\/strong> yes<\/p>\n

Website:<\/strong> standardnotes.com<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Standard<\/a><\/p>\n

Standard Notes is built on two core principles: flexible note templates for various needs, and a high level of privacy. End-to-end sync encryption is on by default, your notes are encrypted on your device, and you need two-factor authentication to log in. Unlike its competitors discussed above, Standard Notes has a web application, so you can enjoy all of its features in a browser.<\/p>\n

As for the note templates, you can use these to store anything you want: from code snippets and to-do lists to financial spreadsheets and even passwords. Speaking of which, Standard Notes can be used for both storing passwords and generating one-time authentication codes (TOTPs)<\/a>. You can even protect individual notes with an extra password for an extra layer of security.<\/p>\n

One cool feature of Standard Notes is its \u201cinfinite undo\u201d: according to the developers, the app keeps the edit history for each note from the moment it\u2019s created. This might be a lifesaver when working on larger documents like a book or doctoral thesis. Standard Notes supports plug-ins, but there aren\u2019t many to choose from.<\/p>\n

Sync options include self-hosting a Standard Notes server or using the proprietary cloud. The Productivity plan will set you back $90 annually, or you can store and sync simple text notes with end-to-end encryption on the free Standard plan. Some of the features we mentioned are only available in the $120-per-year Professional plan, which also includes 100 GB of encrypted file storage, and subscription-sharing with up to five accounts. If you self-host, you still need to buy a license, but it comes at a heavy discount<\/a>: $39 annually or $113.42 for five years. Students get a 30% discount.<\/p>\n

Standard Notes can import data from Evernote, Apple\u2019s Notes, Simplenote, Google Keep, or a set of plain text files.\n<\/p>\n

Extra security<\/h2>\n

\nOf course, encryption is of no use if someone steals the data from your computer directly. Data thieves typically use a special type of malware called \u201cinfostealers\u201d. These can snatch your files and even intercept passwords as you type them. So, in addition to one of these privacy-focused note-taking apps, make sure to use a comprehensive security system<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>on all your smartphones and computers.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Today we dive into note-taking apps, to-do lists, and diaries that use end-to-end encryption: privacy-focused cousins of popular apps like OneNote, Evernote, Apple\u2019s Notes, and Google Keep.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2722,"featured_media":22592,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[105,2309,1061,1328,2755,43,113],"class_list":{"0":"post-22589","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-news","8":"tag-android","9":"tag-end-to-end-encryption","10":"tag-ios","11":"tag-macos","12":"tag-notes","13":"tag-privacy","14":"tag-windows"},"hreflang":[{"hreflang":"en-ae","url":"https:\/\/me-en.kaspersky.com\/blog\/top-encrypted-todo-and-note-taking-apps\/22589\/"},{"hreflang":"en-in","url":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.co.in\/blog\/top-encrypted-todo-and-note-taking-apps\/27293\/"},{"hreflang":"ar","url":"https:\/\/me.kaspersky.com\/blog\/top-encrypted-todo-and-note-taking-apps\/11550\/"},{"hreflang":"en-us","url":"https:\/\/usa.kaspersky.com\/blog\/top-encrypted-todo-and-note-taking-apps\/29951\/"},{"hreflang":"en-gb","url":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.co.uk\/blog\/top-encrypted-todo-and-note-taking-apps\/27449\/"},{"hreflang":"es-mx","url":"https:\/\/latam.kaspersky.com\/blog\/top-encrypted-todo-and-note-taking-apps\/27257\/"},{"hreflang":"es","url":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.es\/blog\/top-encrypted-todo-and-note-taking-apps\/29861\/"},{"hreflang":"it","url":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.it\/blog\/top-encrypted-todo-and-note-taking-apps\/28677\/"},{"hreflang":"ru","url":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.ru\/blog\/top-encrypted-todo-and-note-taking-apps\/37255\/"},{"hreflang":"tr","url":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.com.tr\/blog\/top-encrypted-todo-and-note-taking-apps\/12222\/"},{"hreflang":"x-default","url":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.com\/blog\/top-encrypted-todo-and-note-taking-apps\/50915\/"},{"hreflang":"fr","url":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.fr\/blog\/top-encrypted-todo-and-note-taking-apps\/21693\/"},{"hreflang":"pt-br","url":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.com.br\/blog\/top-encrypted-todo-and-note-taking-apps\/22488\/"},{"hreflang":"de","url":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.de\/blog\/top-encrypted-todo-and-note-taking-apps\/31175\/"},{"hreflang":"ja","url":"https:\/\/blog.kaspersky.co.jp\/top-encrypted-todo-and-note-taking-apps\/36235\/"},{"hreflang":"ru-kz","url":"https:\/\/blog.kaspersky.kz\/top-encrypted-todo-and-note-taking-apps\/27615\/"},{"hreflang":"en-au","url":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.com.au\/blog\/top-encrypted-todo-and-note-taking-apps\/33456\/"},{"hreflang":"en-za","url":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.co.za\/blog\/top-encrypted-todo-and-note-taking-apps\/33083\/"}],"acf":[],"banners":"","maintag":{"url":"https:\/\/me-en.kaspersky.com\/blog\/tag\/privacy\/","name":"privacy"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/me-en.kaspersky.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22589","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/me-en.kaspersky.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/me-en.kaspersky.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/me-en.kaspersky.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2722"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/me-en.kaspersky.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22589"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/me-en.kaspersky.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22589\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22591,"href":"https:\/\/me-en.kaspersky.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22589\/revisions\/22591"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/me-en.kaspersky.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22592"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/me-en.kaspersky.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22589"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/me-en.kaspersky.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22589"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/me-en.kaspersky.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22589"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}