Encrypted PDF's in Evernote

[Beartooth 9]

Ever since V10 came along and dis-allowed local notebooks I save a good portion of my docs as encrypted PDF’s.  I then import those docs into Evernote using an import folder.   I am still a legacy user on Windows 10, however I also use the current iPhone app.

When I open the iPhone app to view an encrypted file I type in the password and I can view as expected. Works great.

My question:  When I am viewing that PDF inside of Evernote is it safe from prying eyes or can it be captured in some way?

[PinkElephant 8,115]

There is probably as risk that the decrypted file is synced with the server. If this happens, the decrypted version might be stored in the note history, even if it is later encrypted again and overwrites the decrypted version in the active database.

To exclude this possibility, you could go offline (flight mode) before decrypting, and encrypt it again before switching online mode back on.

In general EN says that the user data is only reviewed by bots, for example for building the search index or to perform OCR, not by human operators. It all boils down to a question of trust.

Personally I use the secure note feature of my password manager to store sensitive information.

[eric99 980]

On 10/12/2021 at 8:59 PM, Beartooth said:

Ever since V10 came along and dis-allowed local notebooks I save a good portion of my docs as encrypted PDF’s.  I then import those docs into Evernote using an import folder.   I am still a legacy user on Windows 10, however I also use the current iPhone app.

When I open the iPhone app to view an encrypted file I type in the password and I can view as expected. Works great.

My question:  When I am viewing that PDF inside of Evernote is it safe from prying eyes or can it be captured in some way?

I don't think that there is a real risk that the pdf file will be written back as long as you don't use a pdf reader which is capable to make changes in the file. I use the free Adobe Acrobat Reader to decrypt and this tool will never write back to the original file location.