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Evernote encryption- how expensive can it be to implement if Google Drive is doing it w/ terabytes at a time for less than Evernote?


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Firstly I want to say thank you to the Evernote team this is truly the best note taking application I've ever found and I'm grateful for that.

However, I think it's becoming more and more in demand everyda that users be able to encrypt their whole notebooks.

I don't have that much data, a few gigs worth if that, and I'm paying $50 a year where I have 4 terabytes backed up, which is encrypted with Backblaze for the same price.

And Google is offering 1tb of encrypted data for half the price of here.

I just don't see what's holding us back, devs if you're reading this the demand for encrypted notebooks are increasing every day and the sooner you implement it the stronger you'll make your company.

If you don't allow notebook encryption it will be the beginning of the end, because users need to protect their data - the same way you lock your door when you leave your house.

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As you say,  lots of arguments raised,  and it's generally felt that some level of encryption would be a Good Thing.  But it's Evernote's decision whether to proceed and if and when to launch...

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Devs can I please get a response?

 

Devs don't (usually) comment on feature requests however ferquently they're raised,  and Evernote's policy is not to discuss their road map or future releases.  And like I said before (and @JMichael already knows..) whether it's a good idea or not;  whether one multi-million dollar company has blown a year's budget on developing something or not;  and no matter how many customers think it'll make the company 'stronger'..  Evernote will make their own decision in their own time.

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Firstly I want to say thank you to the Evernote team this is truly the best note taking application I've ever found and I'm grateful for that.

However, I think it's becoming more and more in demand everyda that users be able to encrypt their whole notebooks.

I don't have that much data, a few gigs worth if that, and I'm paying $50 a year where I have 4 terabytes backed up, which is encrypted with Backblaze for the same price.

And Google is offering 1tb of encrypted data for half the price of here.

I just don't see what's holding us back, devs if you're reading this the demand for encrypted notebooks are increasing every day and the sooner you implement it the stronger you'll make your company.

If you don't allow notebook encryption it will be the beginning of the end, because users need to protect their data - the same way you lock your door when you leave your house.

 

I don't know how much it would cost to encrypt attachments, entire notes, or notebooks. It is certainly something that I need and would greatly appreciate, though! My guess would be that there are a few concerns at Evernote that are holding them back, and they are not really worried about costs:

 

(1) The US govt. has expressed its displeasure over companies enabling zero-knowledge encryption. Evernote might not want to implement such a thing until they are sure the legal environment is favorable. 

 

(2) Encryption involves a lot of complexity (every major platform) that the majority of users may not necessarily want or need. After all, even on these forums, there is more outrage and demands for changes over the color of user interfaces.

 

(3) Users will be stranded if they lose their passwords, and Evernote may have calculated that the risk (losing longtime paying users) isn't worth it.

 

(4) If they don't implement zero-knowledge encryption (and accept the problems of #1 and #3), then there isn't much point in doing it at all.

 

(5) Encryption undermines a lot of the features in Evernote: search, related notes, context, search prompts, etc. They might feel that users expect everything to "just work" and will develop a negative impression of the app when it doesn't, even if they are causing the problems themselves by enabling encryption. 

 

I don't know, frankly, because Evernote has never come out and explained their position. However, the CEO has made some remarks suggesting that they are waiting for the government to move before they go ahead an do anything. Personally, I am not terribly enthusiastic about recent developments in the US concerning collaboration between the government and corporate sectors in the sharing of our data (with or without our knowledge), but that is out of our hands.

 

A potential solution for some users might be available now in the form of a third-party app. 

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

 

I could be wrong, but I think everything Google encrypts on the cloud is not "zero-knowledge," because they have the keys. It is essentially a false sense of security, in my opinion. On Apple and Google mobile devices, the encryption appears to be zero-knowledge if you have a new product. 

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Devs can I please get a response?

 

Devs don't (usually) comment on feature requests however ferquently they're raised,  

. ... 

Evernote will make their own decision in their own time.

 

 

Nothing wrong with a user asking for a response from the Evernote development team -- I see this many times in the forum, and I also see that sometimes the Devs (or other senior EN employee) do respond.

 

Saying "Evernote will make their own decision in their own time." is like saying "GEICO will save you 15% in 15 minutes" -- EVERYBODY already knows that.  LOL

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So it's OK to say "it would be nice to encrypt notebooks" but it's wrong to say "sure,  but it's not exactly your choice"?? 

 

And while it is OK to ask for a response,  it's unrealistic to expect one. 

 

So setting expectations by saying "they don't usually.." prevents frustrated users raising "why, oh why" issues,  while not necessarily preventing Evernote from commenting if they want to.

 

I'm all for correcting errors of fact,  but can we have a pass on whether the 'tone' of an answer is correct or not?

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@Gaz:  I don't think it is for any of us to state what is "realistic" with respect to Evernote.  Over the last year or so Evernote has made many changes that few expected and many have said were not realistic.

 

It is NOT unrealistic to expect a response from Evernote, since on a number of occasions Evernote personnel *have* responded.

 

So, can we stick to discussing the technical details, and what features Evernote does, or does not have, without respect to what they may provide in the future?  As you are so fond of saying, "Evernote's policy is not to discuss their road map or future releases", so there is little benefit for anyone to guess.

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Since you seem to be agreeing with me completely I guess it would be rude of me to comment further...

 

I don't think I said I am agreeing with you "completely".

But if you agree with my last post (as shown below), then we're good to go!   ;)

 

@Gaz:  I don't think it is for any of us to state what is "realistic" with respect to Evernote.  Over the last year or so Evernote has made many changes that few expected and many have said were not realistic.

 

It is NOT unrealistic to expect a response from Evernote, since on a number of occasions Evernote personnel *have* responded.

 

So, can we stick to discussing the technical details, and what features Evernote does, or does not have, without respect to what they may provide in the future?  As you are so fond of saying, "Evernote's policy is not to discuss their road map or future releases", so there is little benefit for anyone to guess.

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We now seem to be disagreeing about agreeing..  I do agree with "So, can we stick to discussing the technical details".  Not going to comment further on anything else.  It's probably scaring the newbies.

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Devs can I please get a response?

Lest you be confused by any off-topic nitpickery:

 

Evernote staff do read everything here, and they do sometimes respond about their motivations for doing or not doing X. When they do, that's pretty much welcome, as far as I'm concerned.

 

However, far more frequently, they don't respond, or respond generically (i.e., "thanks for the suggestion""). It appears to be something of a company policy, or at least a strong guideline, not to comment about future directions or timelines -- this is based on their own statements in the forums. You can find these on your own, if you care to dig a bit.

 

So while it's certainly ok to ask for features, or comments/rationales by Evernote development staffers, gazumped is certainly correct to point out their historical tendencies here. Doesn't mean that they won't change, or that they won't respond. It's just telling you what you should expect.

 

Anyways, failing that, there is plenty of other discussion on the notebook encryption suggestion, and in this case, Evernote staffers -- well, at least one of them -- have already commented. You should do a forum search for "notebook encryption", or more specifically "engberg notebook encryption" (Dave Engberg being the Evernote CTO). You should find at least one lengthy thread on the topic.

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I believe it is very important for everyone to comment or request reasonable features and function. A response by the Evernote team does not mean they are not watching. It seems reasonable that valid comments and suggestions are constantly observed and "mined" for future consideration. In this way, focused forum postings are a way of "voting" for future features and functions. I am a relatively new Premium, March, 2013, but find few major concerns that the Evernote team has not addressed.

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