When To Encrypt a Document or Text

[silentquest 69]

I guess I have resigned myself to the fact that EN will be hosted on Google servers. I have conceptually resigned myself to the possibility of EN being owned by Google someday. Not optimal, I don't like it, but I have not found better options than EN for keeping my info.

With this in mind I combed through my notes to see what a data miner might gleen from my information. Most of it is nothing I care if anyone else sees. Some of it, I'm not sure about so I thought I would ask your advice if the worst case happened and someone got access to my EN database. Would you encrypt the following types of documents? (I'm am not putting anything with my SS#, Passwords, Bank Account Numbers, or Credit/Debit Card Numbers in EN)

• documents with my home address in the document?
• car repair documents that have my home address and vehicle VIN number?
• Bills such as electric, gas, electric, etc.?
• Any others I didn't think of?

I have to say after going to OneNote for Mac for a while and then coming back to EN I appreciate EN more than I did. This really is the best tool I think. I guess with limited encryption options within the app itself, I have to be careful what I put in it. 

[DTLow 5,736]

9 hours ago, silentquest said:

I combed through my notes to see what a data miner might gleen from my information. Most of it is nothing I care if anyone else sees. Some of it, I'm not sure about so I thought I would ask your advice if the worst case happened and someone got access to my EN database.

I'm not seeing any reason at this time to be concerned about my Evernote data being mined or anyone getting access to my EN database

I put all my data in Evernote.

I encrypt selected notes (encrypted pdf), but only top secret stuff

Generally, I convert all my notes to PDF format
but no encryption - it would interfere  with searching etc
I may reconsider this in the future; encrypt everything and add descriptive text outside the pdf.  I'm working on automating this (Applescript on my Mac)

[gazumped 11,666]

Hi.  I agree with @DTLow - no reason as yet to be concerned about abuse of your data.  Evernote has emphasised that it is committed to preserving user security in all situations.

I keep scanned and OCR'd bank statements in a local notebook;  but passwords, other account information and card details are the big ones to keep off the grid. 

Everything else is in Evernote - in a few cases in password-protected PDFs for a little extra security.  I have a small filing box for certficates and other physical documentation that I need to keep.

[silentquest 69]

Thanks! Your replies are very helpful. So I assume from what you've said that you would not be concerned about the 3 situations I listed above. 

I had forgotten about the local notebook. Thanks for reminding me. All the stuff that I KNOW is sensitive either goes into 1Password either as secure notes or passwords or stays on my local hard drive. I was wondering about the situations I listed above though so I feel better now.

Thanks. Refreshing to be back. Maybe the guys that complain about EN so much need to spend some time in other apps to really appreciate how well EN works. I know I appreciate it more now.

[DTLow 5,736]

You're welcome
Keep in mind, these are just user opinions.

Everyome should take the necessary steps to satisfy their own level of paranoia
The super secure people will be laughing at me if/when I get hacked

[silentquest 69]

Well I think what happened was I read too much of others opinions at one point. "Evernote is going out of business", "Evernote is becoming Google", as well as the now 18 page post on this page "Evernote's Future is in the Cloud". I "panicked" a little bit as have many others judging by what I read and started to see if there was a safer replacement. While I think it is always a good idea to keep track of other options, I jumped to first Apple Notes, then OneNote and found them both seriously lacking. The hard part is committing to something you may have to leave in the future as every note you add is adding more work later on to move it out again.

I applaud the renewed focus of EN though to the end user stripping out the areas that were taking focus from the core competency of the company. If the company has a focus on business as well as the end user, that's okay too. Many companies do such as Apple, Microsoft and many others. Just please dont forget us or leave us behind. I also dont have an issue paying $70 per year for an app I use multiple times a day. I spent $100 last night on a meal that wasn't worth it and that meal and that money is already gone. haha. 

I think what has happened that is good though is it has made me more conscious of what I put into EN. It's probably good that I don't 100% trust them. The good news is 95% of what I save is safe, if not boring, for others to see. I'm running it through the filter of "if this data were mined would it matter". The other 5% I keep in encrypted, safe, places. 

Thanks again. 

[CalS 5,280]

@silentquest

A little late to the game but I am much like @DTLow and @gazumped.  I don't worry much about address and the like, too easy to find that on the web as it is today. 

Anything I don't care if anyone would see is in a synced notebook, anything financial and the like goes into a local notebook.  The exception is something I may want access to on my phone which gets encrypted and put in a synced notebook.  Just over 20% of my notes are in two local notebooks and half my notes are PDFs..  EN has enabled me to become paperless.