Hey everyone! :)

I am currently looking to replace Obsidian with a self-hostable alternative (that preferably also uses Markdown - but it’s not a must) but instead of storing the files directly on disk has a way to have all the files within in an encrypted vault / binary format.

Reason being I have very very sensitive data that needs to be stored (employee & medically related).

I read that Logseq used to support this feature but it has since been deprecated, some light googling didn’t surface any results other than that so I would be delighted if anyone had any suggestions!

Thanks so much in advance for any and all help! :)

edit: Forgot to mention that it needs to support Linux as well as Android

  • Jocarnail@lemmy.worldEnglish
    4·
    3 months ago

    If you are storing manly on one device and are looking for a relatively “simple” solution for encryption at rest I would suggest to just encrypt the folder/directory/image the data are living in.

    Of course, this way you have to decrypt the data while you are using it. However, it separates the responsibility from the note taking app.

    This may or may not be a good solution for your use case, but it should be fast and easy to implement.

    I used to do this with some mildly sensitive data using a mac encrypted disk image with plain markdowns files inside. I accessed the files with vscode, but I don’t see why it wouldn’t work with Obsidian. It may just be a bit of a hassle to open the vault each time.

    • qaz@lemmy.worldEnglish
      4·
      3 months ago

      This is a security risk! Some note taking apps store data outside of the notes directory (e.g. Logseq)

      • Jocarnail@lemmy.worldEnglish
        3·
        3 months ago

        Good to know, but this is a security risk of the note taking app, not of the encryption method itself.

        • qaz@lemmy.worldEnglish
          2·
          3 months ago

          Since the method is encryption of the notes folder, I would consider it to be one

    • daddy32@lemmy.worldEnglish
      2·
      3 months ago

      I think this is the best answer. Separation of concerns and all. And OP can keep using whatever notes app he is right now or even switch to another, without the additional encryption requirement.

    • dingdongitsabear@lemmy.mlEnglish
      1·
      3 months ago

      I wanted to write the same thing. have the notes app do the notes thing and handle encryption elsewhere.

      as to apps, I suggest QOwnNotes. it’s markdown, highly configurable so you can make it minimalistic AF, stores notes in invidual files and folders. it also has a bunch functionality like syncing to nexctcolud and such, but I’d advise against it, just use it as a notes editor. you don’t have to selfhost anything, make it use the e.g. Documents/Notes folder and you can use syncthing to securely replicate it to other devices.