Feature Request - Encryption of Entire Notebook and/or Notes

[mapjr 28]

I have been an EN user since Beta, and became a Premium user as soon as it was offered.

 

I do not understand why EN is lagging with simple security options, such as easy encryption of notes and notebooks. This really should be as easy as a Right-Click or selection in properties for a Note or Notebook. 

 

The existing method of selecting text in a note and then using a Right-Click option to encrypt it is cumbersome at best. Yes, it is a nice feature if one wants to encrypt only a portion of a note. That's fine.

 

But there should be an easy way to (1) encrypt an entire note without selecting text and (2) encrypt an entire notebook.

 

I would be willing to pay a few bucks extra a year for this additional encryption ability. Seems this should be a no-brainier for EN, both as a tech matter and as a business/profit matter.

[Sottam 6]

I need the Evernote team to start thinking about adding a note or notebook encryption. This thread is going on since 2014 and still not getting any results from Evernote side. 

[Carmichael.Chris 4]

I would upgrade to premium for this feature.  I have sensitive information that I consolidate into a notebook, but I won't use Evernote over mobile or from my work computer because I can't encrypt that data.  Heck, I'm even a little paranoid keeping my home computer unlocked when I have visitors.  

 

-chris

[Silberwoelfin 0]

Hi - it's a phrase I use too often,  but "if it were that easy, Evernote would probably have done it by now".  

 

This is much-discussed and requested over the years - encrypting data across however many platforms Evernote now uses could mean that on some it's not possible to read data or even use Evernote.  So far Evernote have seemed happy to leave it to users to find 3rd-party solutions,  of which there are plenty..

But it is, in fact, quite simple:

To encrypt notes, Evernote would only have to store the password (encrypted with a master-passphrase) for the note inside the note itself. That way, the notes can be synced exactly the way they are now. The master-passphrase would be something only the user knows and never leaves his/her device; either completely new or derived from the credentials already used for evernote (username/password). You could even use different master-passphrases per notebook, which would create the illusion of the notebooks being encrypted separately.

I see no reason why this should not work cross-platform. As for sharing: for shared notebooks, the users would simply have to exchange the master-passphrase for that notebook once in person or otherwise securely. For shared notes you could do the same, or you could use public-key-encryption for the note-password: encrypt it using the other person's public key and only they can decrypt it and afterwards decrypt the note. All this could even be automated and implemented completely transparent to the user.

Which is why I for one can absolutely not understand why this has not yet been done. The lack of useful encryption is what is keeping me from actually using evernote on a more permanent basis (also the unavailabitly of a linux client but thats a different matter...).

[Calion 26]

+1 on upgrading to premium for notebook-level encryption. If MacJournal had the easy ability to Share notes, I would have moved to it entirely by now.

[Sarubobo 4]

I use Evernote daily on my Windows PC, on my iPhone, and iPad. It would be great if the encryption feature would be available on the iOS devices. Being able to encrypt notes or portion of notes while on the go is essential. Hopefully Evernote will listen to its users. I have already begun looking for other options but really don't want to change if Evernote meets my needs. 

[Andrew Chan 2]

Yes, me too. Well I already a premium user (with my working account) and the only reason I use 2 account is I don't want other to see my secure note accidentally when I presenting them with my other notes.

It's even ok if it's not encrypted at all, but just need a passcode to open the notebook.

[mservidio 2]

I wasn't fully clear, I meant notebook level encryption. Paying a premium for a product such as Evernote, one simply prefers not to have to use third party products to provide things like full notebook encryption. We pay premiums so that we don't need to spend time implementing third party solutions.

[EverDaniel 0]

I will be abandoning Evernote when my annual subscription expires because this feature request hasn't been implemented.

[DigitalScribe 9]

I really like Evernote and have been using it for at least a decade, but there's been too many examples of why full end-to-end encryption of all personal information is necessary in this world. My subscription is up for renewal at the end of the month, and I won't be renewing if there still isn't a clear commitment to implement this ASAP. I've already started transitioning to Standard Notes. 

[SupaIrish 1]

Adding my vote to, +1 on upgrading to premium for notebook-level encryption

[ric 16]

I may be naive, but I think zero knowledge encryption of notes and notebooks with group sharing of encrypted notes is much more valuable to business users than work chat. Of course this has to be done right and they need to hire a security expert and vet it rather than try to graft on some homemade solution that will be easily hacked. But this is the sort of feature I think users would be willing to pay. I sometimes use Lastpass to store notes on sensitive information. Lastpass note editing and attachment handling is terrible. I'm already a premium user, but I would love to be able to have Lastpass level security with Evernote level notekeeping.

[jefito 5,589]

Moved to the Feature Request forum so that you encryption lovers can all vote on it, or any of the other note/notebook requests that exist... 

[JoseGFV 2]

I don't understand how there are only 10 people voting for this feature, this should be at the top of the list. This is a very important feature in today's state of affairs with respect to privacy and security.

[jefito 5,589]

1 hour ago, JoseGFV said:

I don't understand how there are only 10 people voting for this feature, this should be at the top of the list. 

Because it's already been requested elsewhere? See 

 

[JoseGFV 2]

17 minutes ago, jefito said:

Because it's already been requested elsewhere? See 

 

Yes, thanks I did find it a few minutes after I had posted here.

[Newton M. 1]

Is it the whole idea of having encrypted notes and notebooks on Evernote dead for good?

Back in 2014, when the initial post was published, encryption was already important despite being only to a minor percentage of users. What can we say briefly about it today? Privacy is in the epicenter of tectonic moves in the technological world. Touching every aspect of our digital lives, from creating content to sharing it privately. Countless stories about leaks or accidental breaches are published every day. And we know that lots of other apps offer full encryption already, with similar services found here.

We also know the communications between Evernote clients and servers (and between our various data centers) are all encrypted. That they changed the UI to be more clear with whom a note is shared, etcetera. It's clear and nice to see that Evernote as a company does care about it. But it's time to the next step, don't you think?

We could take advantage of this phase of changes that are taking place to improve the entire platform, as well as to implement certain features that we cannot move on into the next decade without them. Would be nice to bring attention to the matter to their new CEO. It would be nice to hear an official position about it from Ian Small.

[GoingPaperless1 0]

+1

I have some sensitive notebooks that I don't care if they are tagged or if OCR search and other features work but I would like to have the entire content encrypted on evernotes server not just in transit

[GrumpyVIrgo 0]

I have been a subscriber for many years. For update i have been hoping for a password protect feature for notebook. Not just encryption text. Updates after updates i have been disappointed and i have been very patient. Really Mr Admin, can you please give us a simple password protect feature for notebooks? Please? Thank you.

[Julian Richardson 0]

I have wanted this feature forever. It's really important. I want all my notes encrypted, including the titles, so that only I can view them. If I share information with support for debugging an issue, I want to know that they can't see any of my content (including note titles!) unless I explicitly allow it.

[alexpc 0]

Well, it’s been almost a year and Evernote still uses fancy old plain text and everyone at Evernote could read my notes. So still is only useful as a recipes database. I transferred all my notes to another platform (Standard Notes) and even as it was a painful process now I’m happy and in a five-year subscription. You could discuss the feasibility of the encryption, the features, etc for years to come, but notice other options have already solved those quirks, and they’re fully operational. All the time you spent here arguing encrypted notebooks or individual notes, your notes are in danger and it’s time you missed moving onto another provider. As I no longer am an Evernote user, this thread is meaningless to me and I’m going to erase me from it. 

@Jana B There is no import from Evernote option in Standard Notes, I had to import the notes one by one, it wasn’t easy. Once your notes are in the app you don’t have to unencrypt them every time you want to access them. The app manages all the encryption/unencryption and even keeps the notes encrypted on your PC hard drive or in your mobile memory. Only you with your password can unencrypt the notes when you want to read/edit/search them. You log into the app every time you want to access the notes and that’s it. 

[Jone Mateus 2]

Well, I'm another one who would be grateful if notes and notebooks could be encrypted.

[mprogram 19]

I'm also another one who would be grateful if notes and notebooks could be encrypted.

I think Apple's new Advanced Data Protection is a worthy contender. It includes end-to-end encrypting all your Apple Notes among other things. They already had individual note encryption, but this is general to all notes.

Apple Notes has an import feature for Evernote, but of course it's not great. Evernote still has some unique awesome features that can't yet be imported (in my experience). Maybe use both.

 

[DigitalScribe 9]

I don't say this to be rude, I've been paying for Evernote since at least 2012 so clearly I really liked the product and will miss it, but this request has been open since 2014, a lot of people have commented on it in support, and during that time Evernote has been losing a lot of paying users as well as market share, to the point that it was just recently acquired by a company it once would have been bigger than just on its own. Yes some of the features it's been building recently require some on-server processing and that's one of the reasons Evernote has resisted this request, but clearly that strategy isn't working out so well financially. Many of those features are ones I never had a use for and so am willing to do without, and am instead now paying money my notetaking app subscription money to Standard Notes and Notesnook. 

Again, I don't say this just to speak ill of Evernote, I'm really going to miss it, it's been very useful to me the last ten years. But the privacy concerns that motivate me and others here to look for an encrypted solution for storing our personal information definitely profoundly outweigh the convenience of the kind of features you mentioned above; and some of those can indeed also be implemented client-side, yes that requires writing new code, but ultimately, Evernote's ceding this privacy-focused market share to other companies currently, so that's a calculus they'll have to weigh under their new ownership. 

Sources: 
https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/evernote/company_financials
https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/bending-spoons/company_financials
https://www.engadget.com/evernote-bending-spoons-acquisition-201505825.html?guccounter=1

[Mickey58 2]

Well, Evernote has served me quite well for about 12 years. It played a key role for my producitivty and creativity.

But the lack of encryption for full notes/notebooks that has been discussed in this thread without resolution over many years is no longer acceptable for a tool that stores a lot of sensitive personal and business information.

I fell really sad, but I'm forced to abandon my use of Evernote and move to Joplin. Wish Evernote all the best.

[gazumped 11,656]

Hi - it's a phrase I use too often,  but "if it were that easy, Evernote would probably have done it by now".  

 

This is much-discussed and requested over the years - encrypting data across however many platforms Evernote now uses could mean that on some it's not possible to read data or even use Evernote.  So far Evernote have seemed happy to leave it to users to find 3rd-party solutions,  of which there are plenty..

[mapjr 28]

@gazumped, but EN does provide encryption. It's just cumbersome in that one needs to select the text in a note and then right-click to encrypt. So it seems that making it easier to encrypt an entire note or notebook would not add to any issues as re cross-platform use. IMHO

[BurgersNFries 2,407]

@gazumped, but EN does provide encryption. It's just cumbersome in that one needs to select the text in a note and then right-click to encrypt. So it seems that making it easier to encrypt an entire note or notebook would not add to any issues as re cross-platform use. IMHO

 

It's pretty easy to arm chair quarterback.  Yes, EN currently provides encryption...for text only.  Simply b/c text encryption exists doesn't mean that can easily be applied to an entire notebook (or even just a note) that may contain images, PDFs, MP4s, etc.  and sync & work well across multiple platforms. 

[Metrodon 2,184]

There obviously isn't a technical reason why Evernote have chosen not to implement this type of encryption, so Evernote have made a design decision not to implement it.

 

I guess they think the complexity for users (and maybe the additional support load) combined with the reduction in search, AI and other stuff means that in the trade off between stuff encryption is currently not winning.

[gazumped 11,656]

Have a look at SafeRoom - http://www.getsaferoom.com/

"mobile and desktop apps embedded into existing platforms providing users with zero-knowledge encryption using standard AES-512 algorithm and standard iOS/ Android/ MacOS/ Windows built-in libraries."

Feedback from users - https://discussion.evernote.com/topic/81336-saferoom-zero-knowledge-encryption-for-evernote-and-more/

 

I use LastPass for logins and Evernote for data.  EN would be clunky and cumbersome for passwords.
 

[gazumped 11,656]

6 hours ago, Sottam said:

I need the Evernote team to start thinking about adding a note or notebook encryption. This thread is going on since 2014 and still not getting any results from Evernote side. 

Evernote aren't required to react to user requests and suggestions.  The fact that this is still outstanding after some years suggests it's unlikely to happen anytime soon...

[DTLow 5,736]

16 hours ago, Sottam said:

I need the Evernote team to start thinking about adding a note or notebook encryption. This thread is going on since 2014 and still not getting any results from Evernote side. 

Evernote hasn't expressed an interest in encryption, other that the text encryption feature

My solution is to use the native encryption in attachments; PDFs, office/iwork documents, ...

Warning: Some Evernote features are not functional with encryption; such as OCR and search/indexing

[mservidio 2]

+1 - would also pay an additional premium for full encryption.

[mservidio 2]

Would love to hear a response from Evernote on this feature. The spin on security is quite misleading: https://evernote.com/security. The average user may see fancy terms like "TLS" and "Transport Encryption", and think that "locked cage(s)" protect their data (seriously this is the wording on the security site). They added encryption for data at rest in 2016, but this still doesn't provide the level that is necessary at this point in time. Consumers should be able to own encryption of their own notebooks (beyond just text) and it should be encrypted on the client side too.

Quote

For our data centers, we secure our infrastructure in a private, locked cage that includes 24x7x365 monitoring.

Another article: https://www.lifewire.com/evernote-tips-you-should-avoid-153286

[DTLow 5,736]

14 minutes ago, mservidio said:

Consumers should be able to own the encryption of their own notes.

Evernote only offers a text encryption feature; consumers own the encryption key.
For note encryption, check out third party Saferoom
Another option is the native encryption in attachments; PDFs, Office/iWork documents, ...

To indicate your support for this feature request, use the voting buttons in the top left corner of the discussion.

[billworden 0]

Encryption for Entire Notebooks or Folders would be a very helpful upgrade.  It is very important when storing sensitive info e.g., intellectual property in text or attachments.

Encrypting 'per file' is too cumbersome.  Is this a feature that Evernote would be willing to pursue and implement?

 Thanks!

[gazumped 11,656]

Hi

On 8/10/2018 at 2:02 AM, billworden said:

Is this a feature that Evernote would be willing to pursue and implement?

Evernote don't normally share that type of information,  but this thread started 4 years ago which may be a clue...

[Greg2013 3]

Really want the ability to encrypt entire notebooks.

I use Evernote for work and personal so some personal doc notebooks should be encrypted on my work computer.

[jefito 5,589]

11 minutes ago, Greg2013 said:

I use Evernote for work and personal so some personal doc notebooks should be encrypted on my work computer.

Short term, probably better to use two accounts then. You  can share notebooks between accounts if need be. For example, my personal account contains lots of clipped articles relating to software development, and I naturally share that with my work account. But I don't share much else. For historical purposes, I al so share a number of work notebooks to my personal account, so that I could track my work tasks from home (now I can just access my work accounts and my personal accounts at home on the same machine, at the same time). If I need to access notes from my personal account while at work, I can always access it via my phone or via the web.

[DTLow 5,736]

46 minutes ago, Newton M. said:

Is it the whole idea of having encrypted notes and notebooks on Evernote dead for good?

There's no indication that Evernote is interested in encrypted notes and notebooks
In fact, we know Evernote's service is built on having access to notes for processing; OCR, search indexing, ...

We do have the freedom to encrypt our data
Evernote has a text encryption feature
I make use of the native encyption in attachments; pdfs, office/iWork documents, ....

[Newton M. 1]

11 minutes ago, DTLow said:

There's no indication that Evernote is interested in encrypted notes and notebooks

It would be nice to hear from them, at least, an official statement.
Maybe even a more explanatory tutorial with options, third party apps associated with the company.
It would end up with all of those open questions regarding the subject.

[gazumped 11,656]

1 minute ago, Newton M. said:

It would be nice to hear from them, at least, an official statement.

Although Ian Small is much more open to customers that I remember from his predecessors,  there's a difference between sharing what Evernote is actively working on now,  and explaining which features they will or will not be introducing over the next several years.  Few CEOs would say 'never' to anything,  but no-one is going to say "we'll have that next year" because you also never know what little challenges will get thrown in your way between now and then.  Even fewer will want to open a dialogue where they say "that's not a priority",  and users say "why not?" and start demanding justification for the decision.  What features you see are what you have to work with.

As to offering a tutorial - that in itself is a sizeable commitment of time and effort,  needs constant maintenance and invites lots of "why didn't you mention..." comments for other new apps - and what about those folks who want different features for photo storage,  genealogy and coding?  Are more tutorials going to be created?

IS might decide to comment here if and when he sees the thread,  but I'd rather he and the team concentrate on his avowed priority of "getting Evernote back on the path of developing and shipping quality software" (which might include encryption,  but I'd guess you might have to wait for the video to learn more...)

 

 

[yy13 0]

I am happy to know I am not the only one who want this feature.

I hope Evernote staffers will pay attention to this thread.

[gazumped 11,656]

On 5/20/2020 at 11:25 PM, yy13 said:

I am happy to know I am not the only one who want this feature.

I hope Evernote staffers will pay attention to this thread.

There are feature requests with 300+ and 400+ votes that have not yet been actioned - this thread so far has 31

[Nasri 0]

Well, even though this thread has few votes, every vote counts! I am voting for this one... "selecting text in a note and then using a Right-Click option to encrypt it" is not enough for me.

[nkx 0]

I have been a premium user for over a decade. Still waiting for the most important innovation, encryption of all notebooks/notes and attachments. Not just text snippets but everything in entirety. If you don't do it, someone else will. It seems like the product has been in maintenance mode for too long. No major innovation in the last decade. This is the number one feature you should add if you care about what this paying customer wants (plus a few more like minded others). 

In case you argue that there isn't enough compute capacity across the entire landscape of possible devices, I don't care to use Evernote on a tiny watch screen, everywhere else there is enough CPU capacity nowadays. 

[DTLow 5,736]

5 hours ago, nkx said:

This is the number one feature you should add

Your post has been merged with the ongoing discussion for this request   
To indicate your support, use the vote button at the top left corner of the discussion.   
There's currently 32 votes

[EverDaniel 0]

Been using EverNote for many years.  This is the number 1 feature I want.  

[alexpc 0]

I use Evernote since the beginning. Recently I was aware Evernote redesigned the iOs apps but not a single improvement in security or encryption. I'm tired waiting and being in compromise because Evernote thinks we need better looking apps with poor security. For example, apple iCloud doesn't end to end encrypt backups on iOs, so all my offline notes are ready to read for anyone who could get access to this backups. I stopped backing to iCloud and now I'll stop using Evernote. I'm an unsatisfied premium user who will exit for good. I'm looking for alternatives to migrate my 7000 notes to. End to end encryption, "not your keys not your data" is a must for me. So goodbye, I waited too much and risked too much now waiting in vain. 

[gazumped 11,656]

4 hours ago, alexpc said:

I use Evernote since the beginning. Recently I was aware Evernote redesigned the iOs apps but not a single improvement in security or encryption. I'm tired waiting and being in compromise because Evernote thinks we need better looking apps with poor security. For example, apple iCloud doesn't end to end encrypt backups on iOs, so all my offline notes are ready to read for anyone who could get access to this backups. I stopped backing to iCloud and now I'll stop using Evernote. I'm an unsatisfied premium user who will exit for good. I'm looking for alternatives to migrate my 7000 notes to. End to end encryption, "not your keys not your data" is a must for me. So goodbye, I waited too much and risked too much now waiting in vain. 

See responses to: 

 

- and please don't cross post.

[Jana B 1]

On 9/18/2014 at 2:40 AM, mapjr said:

The existing method of selecting text in a note and then using a Right-Click option to encrypt it is cumbersome at best. Yes, it is a nice feature if one wants to encrypt only a portion of a note. That's fine.

But there should be an easy way to (1) encrypt an entire note without selecting text and (2) encrypt an entire notebook.

I totally agree. The current encryption of text is useless to me.  Dear Evernote, please provide the options to (1) encrypt an entire note and (2) encrypt an entire notebook.

Without this feature, I have to remove all sensitive information from Evernote - a tedious and annoying procedure (annoying because I wish it were unnecessary).

[alexpc 0]

1 minute ago, Jana B said:

I totally agree. The current encryption of text is useless to me.  Dear Evernote, please provide the options to (1) encrypt an entire note and (2) encrypt an entire notebook.

Without this feature, I have to remove all sensitive information from Evernote - a tedious and annoying procedure (annoying because I wish it were unnecessary).

I started the migration one month ago, as I said I waited too much. I'm using Standard Notes, it has end to end encryption and apps for iOs and Android. Now I only use evernote for kitchen recipes what I think is the original intent of the creators. 

[Jana B 1]

22 minutes ago, alexpc said:

I started the migration one month ago, as I said I waited too much. I'm using Standard Notes, it has end to end encryption and apps for iOs and Android. Now I only use evernote for kitchen recipes what I think is the original intent of the creators. 

Thanks, @alexpc for sharing this tip.  I may also start looking for an alternative to Evernote for the same reason.  May I ask some questions about your experience with Standard Notes?

• What is involved in the "migration" to Standard Notes - I take it there is no import from Evernote option?
• Do you have to unencrypt notes in Standard Notes before being able to read them or search the contents?

[coldcoast 5]

I can't believe e2e encryption of a note isn't available. The 'encrypt text' feature currently on evernote desktop is essentially useless because it's only available on plain text - even if you have a bulleted list in your text it's not available, not available for images, etc. It is NOT a viable feature.

The ability to locally encrypt a notebook and/or note is critical in order for me to feel safe/comfortable with using evernote for any sensitive information. It's 2021 - encryption should be the default, not the exception.

[PinkElephant 8,088]

End to end encryption is not the same as an encrypted note or notebook.

Since EN relies heavily on server side services to work, full user encryption is NOT the standard - otherwise many features would not be available. Notes are transport encrypted (TLS/SLS) when transferred to and from the server. On the server it is not human readable, only the EN bots put the pieces together to work their magic.

About the missing encryption of individual content enough was written in this thread, I see no need to repeat it. My support is for an encrypted notebook. As long as it is not available, use other (cloud) services for sensitive information, or simply encrypt the attachments you place in a EN note.

[PinkElephant 8,088]

If you are happy now, all is good …

There is simply no way to OCR pictures and documents, or build the search index on the server when everything is encrypted. Either you trust EN it is the bots and only the bots that have a key to the server side encryption, or you don’t.

This is a decision that nobody can take but yourself.

[PinkElephant 8,088]

Then it seems important for your use case, and you are doing fine to switch.

Or it is not really important for your use case, but you have dug into the position it must be because you want it. Then it is a question of peace of mind - another good reason to leave.

Since you don't tell about your motivation, hard to say what drives you.

[PinkElephant 8,088]

Goodbye …

[PinkElephant 8,088]

Yes, EN has unique features - that would immediately be gone with end to end encryption. For example OCR of pictures and PDFs, the search index, thumbnails from embedded pictures …

EN does all this on the servers, and it means they need to allow their bots to access the data stored.

If you don’t like it, switch.

Maybe they will add encrypted notebooks one day, who knows. Then these will be encrypted, which means it will be unusually difficult to find something inside.

[mprogram 19]

A lot of that is possible on the client side, especially now with the common code base. It would be nice to be able to create an encrypted notebook with limited client side only features (searching text etc). Sort of similar to the functionality we had with local notebooks.

[PinkElephant 8,088]

Local notebooks were removed, including the pretty aged code.

My comment was not about local features - it was about why comparing Apples endtoend encryption move on iCloud to ENs integrated features is like calling apples & orange’s the same just because they are fruits. Not completely untrue, but misleading.

[gazumped 11,656]

7 minutes ago, DigitalScribe said:

Evernote's ceding this privacy-focused market share to other companies currently,

I think if the 70 people supporting this request want to move to different software,  the company (and its other 200M or so users) may manage to survive the shock... 

[DigitalScribe 9]

Well you're welcome to think what you like and be as snarky about it as you want, but if Evernote actually had 200 million paying users it wouldn't have needed to be acquired by a little-known company for way less than it used to be valued at. Ultimately money is what pays for developers' time, and Evernote hadn't been able to get any new funding rounds since 2014, so ultimately had to be sold off. Yeah, it will survive, but a lot of paying customers have left along the way... Anyway, I wish it the best, but it's unfortunate. Privacy and security aren't exactly niche concerns. Hence the direction Apple and others are going. 

https://techcrunch.com/2022/11/16/bending-spoons-acquires-evernote-marking-the-end-of-an-era/
https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/bending-spoons/company_financials

[PinkElephant 8,088]

Oh, a financial analyst among us. Or somebody with an excess of phantasy.

1st I have voted this thread up a long time ago, and stick with it.

2nd it does not make an argument better when it is targeting at the right goal, but itself is inconclusive at best. E2E Encryption and server side services are no friends.

There are valid strategies, one is on device data processing (on which Apple is relying), the other is to own the server instead of using a cloud based one (take a look at DevonThink). EN today controls the services a user can access exclusively on the server side. That is the financial dimension of the technical aspects why end to end encryption is hard to implement.

[gazumped 11,656]

1 hour ago, DigitalScribe said:

if Evernote actually had 200 million paying users it wouldn't have needed to be acquired by a little-known company for way less than it used to be valued at

Funnily enough,  crunchbase shows Evernote to be only a little smaller than 'Spoons - Evernote - Crunchbase Company Profile & Funding - and while no-one knows exactly what the deal is here,  it would appear that it's not a fire sale - the Spoons management are enthusiastic Evernote users with plans to add value...  although encryption may still not be their main focus.

[PinkElephant 8,088]

10 hours ago, Mickey58 said:

But the lack of encryption for full notes/notebooks that has been discussed in this thread without resolution over many years is no longer acceptable for a tool that stores a lot of sensitive personal and business information.

All notes are fully encrypted, both in transfer (SSL/TLS) and in rest. But to make functions like indexing, search, OCR and thumb nailing work, EN bots need access to the notes. So EN holds a key to the encrypted storage, and the bots decrypt the notes when they process them. We have no indication that EN encryption was ever compromised by these operations.

Everything fully encrypted is out of the reach of this services - which make them much less useful. You won't find the content, because it is not searchable.

My personal preference would be a "secure" notebook as well.

For the time being I use the pragmatic approach: For the few things I want fully encrypted, I use the document & notes vault of my password manager. Problem solved, at least for me.

[NoteMarkus 1]

Very last, the very very last thing I would want is that stuff I consider highly private or sensitive, is in the index or even found when searching for it! 

Just as an example, the onenote search is also good, but notes from a protected section is not found by the search (unless specifically unlocked before searching).

[PinkElephant 8,088]

This is a neat approach when you have maybe 10 "highly sensitive" documents. It will be so-so with 50, an when you have 500, you are lost.

Anyhow, I really don't see your problem. You can use any compression app like zip, rar, tar or whatever they are called, or even OS or app based encryption, if you fell like. Any pdf you can encrypt using regular pdf readers. I think you see problems where there are solutions.

BTW most of what we regard as "sensitive" is this only for ourselves - others won't care. If you work in sectors that have specific data protection rules (like HIPAA), EN is nothing for your professional use anyhow. EN on the other hand is compliant with GDPR, which is much stricter than most US data protection rulings. So for a regular professional use in the EU it is OK as it is, without fancy additional encryption. Just normal password rules, and 2FA enabled.

[jawra 1]

+1 To this feature request. I would be a premium user if this could be done. I moved away from evernote last year mostly because of the lack of full encryption, but i would be back if full E2E encryption was implemented. Search can be done through a local index in the computer.

[gazumped 11,656]

I have 60,000+ notes,  with about 150 documents saved in a secure cloud drive with a link from the relevant note(s).   I do not put my most secure stuff online at all.  There's a small drawer with paper files by my desk.  I would strongly doubt that many users would need an extra level of encryption for a significant number of notes.  Plus the risk of forgetting passwords and the overhead of the extra layer in getting to notes when I need information...

This feature has (so far) 73 votes in favour - others have hundreds.  I don't see this becoming a priority...