Frequently Asked Questions
Answers to common questions about PrivNote's security and functionality.
Is PrivNote really secure?
Yes. PrivNote uses client-side encryption with AES-256-GCM, which means your note content is encrypted in your browser before it's sent to our servers. We never see the unencrypted content of your notes.
How does password-less encryption work?
For notes without password protection, we automatically generate a secure random encryption key. This key is stored alongside the encrypted note and is used to automatically decrypt the note when the recipient accesses it. This provides the convenience of password-less sharing while still ensuring the content is encrypted.
Can I see who viewed my note?
No. For privacy reasons, we don't track who views your notes. Once a note is viewed, it's permanently deleted from our servers, and no access logs are maintained.
What happens if someone tries to access a note that's already been viewed?
They'll see an error message indicating that the note has already been viewed or doesn't exist. Each note can only be viewed once, after which it's permanently deleted from our servers.
How long are notes stored?
Notes are stored until they're viewed or until they expire. You can choose an expiration time when creating a note: 1 hour, 24 hours, 7 days, or 30 days. After this time, the note is automatically deleted even if it hasn't been viewed.
Is PrivNote suitable for sharing highly sensitive information?
PrivNote is designed with security in mind, but for extremely sensitive information, we recommend using password protection, shorter expiration times, and sharing the password through a different communication channel than the link. Remember that recipients can still save or screenshot the content before it self-destructs.
How does client-side encryption protect my data?
Client-side encryption means that your note is encrypted in your browser before it's sent to our servers. This creates a zero-knowledge architecture where our servers only store the encrypted content and never have access to the unencrypted data. Even if our servers were compromised, your note content would remain secure.