[Feature request] Password or pin protection

[SamuelBlickle]

I think it would be nice to have a password or pin protection for notebooks. This would add some privacy for the notes and todos if the content of the notebooks would only be visible when the user enters a password. The notebook should be 'locked' again when an other notebook gets opened or the app is closed.

[laurent22]

I'm afraid that would be out of scope. Securing apps and device data is something for the operating system to handle. You can also get extra security using an encrypted hard drive, but doing this at the app level I think would not make sense.

[SamuelBlickle]

i did not think about securing data at os level. imo this is handled really well with the e2e encryption feature. all i thought about is some sort of protection against curious roommates etc. a simple password input would do the trick.

[laurent22]

To provide more details, the end to end encryption that Joplin implements is to protect the data during transmission and on the cloud service so that only you can access it.

On the local device it is assumed that the data is safe due to the OS built-in security features. If additional security is needed it's always possible to put the notes on an encrypted Truecrypt drive for instance.

If someone that you don't trust has access to the computer, they can put a keylogger anyway so any local encryption would not be useful.

[mikeziri]

I felt the need for this on my job pc. It is password protected but my boss have access to it.
I trust them but by principle I like to have a master password on my stuff (like password managers).

I understand your point on the security aspect of Joplin is out of scope.

It doesn't seem priority but tell me if I'm wrong, it seems rather easy to check if encryption is set on an instance on startup and prompt for the master password to continue (unlock) instead of loading it from sqlite db.

[SamuelBlickle]

yes @mikeziri thats exactly my opinion. it should not be very complicated to get passwords from an input field and it would add exactly this level of 'security' i am talking about. often a password prompt is all it needs to stop people from looking through your private data you do not want them to see.

[laurent22]

The SQLite database is not encrypted, even when E2EE is enabled. It might contain encrypted items it got via synchronisation but those will eventually be decrypted too.

Asking for a password wouldn't be useful if the data behind is not encrypted - anyone can easily open the SQLite file and view all the content without launching the app.

Other than a built-in solution, you could probably do this using a small script. You could for instance put the profile directory in a password-protected ZIP file. Then with a bash or batch script, you would unzip the file (at which point you will be asked a password) and then run the app. When the app close, you'll re-encrypt the file again from the same script.

Otherwise putting the profile on a USB key that you can take with you could be a solution too. I think some USB keys have built-in encryption.

[mikeziri]

Just to understand better:
the notes directory has the encrypted content.
the sqlite has the same data not encrypted?

just to see how I approach a solution for my situation. ty

[SamuelBlickle]

the method with the zip script could work, yes, even if it's a bit of a workaround.
but i think @mikeziri and me are not thinking about 'encryption' per definition, it's more an added layer of protection because:
yes technically you are right @laurent22 anyone could open the sqlite database but i think 90% of all potential curious office workers or roommates would not be able to do so (or would be too lazy for it).

[laurent22]

@mikeziri, yes, the note directory on the cloud service (eg. OneDrive, Nextcloud, etc.) has encrypted data.

The local, SQLite data is not encrypted.

[stjok]

could not agree more. there should be a password to open the app

[stjok]

while I'm at it, it would be great if images could be copied to a note. that and the password get done, I'm contributing and sticking with Joplin. Thank you for considering my requests

[NixSar]

This should really be reopened, because of the lack of a pin/password, basically a boss key, Joplin is unusable safely in a work/public setting on a desktop computer. Yes, on your own Android device you can get a third-party app to lock it, but on a work/public computer most people don't have privileges to install such apps and anybody that sits down (or remote desktops) in front of such a computer can immediately go through their notes. A simple pin would alleviate 99% of this problem leaving your notes readable only to a determined IT guy - and that certainly wouldn't be the scope of this request.

[laurent22]

I'm reopening the issue in case someone would like to propose a pull request.