Information to keep private, whether that’s private conversations, financial details, health records, or personal journal entries with digital vulnerabilities, it’s increasingly important to keep our private notes and documents confidential and secure.

Choose your medium carefully 

The first step towards private note-taking is choosing a medium that allows you to control access. Paper notebooks allow you to physically control who sees your writing and you easily store them in a safe, out-of-sight place. Apps and cloud-based note-taking platforms provide digital convenience but leave you vulnerable to hacking. If you prefer digital notes, choose an encrypted app that does not store notes on external servers. Regardless of your chosen medium, never write down something too sensitive – if your private notes were to fall into the wrong hands, it could have devastating consequences.

Use codes and shorthand 

Shorthand mixes abbreviations, initials, symbols, and fragments of words to obscure meanings. Develop your shorthand system so that anyone finding your notes will not easily decipher them. For example, you could use initials in place of full names and dollar amounts rather than specifying actual figures. Even if your shorthand is cracked, the ambiguity adds an extra barrier to understanding the full context.

Encrypt your devices 

If keeping digital notes, encrypt the device you use to write them. Encryption jumbles data using algorithms so that information only be accessed with passwords and digital keys. It protects your private notes in case your device is compromised. Use strong passwords and be careful about public WiFi networks, links and files from unknown sources, and other malware threats that could jeopardize encryption.

Use invisible ink 

An ultra-old-school tactic, invisible ink lets you hide messages in plain sight. Invisible ink refers to any substance used to write words that are invisible until revealed by heat, UV light, or chemical reactions. Lemon juice is a common household invisible ink. To keep notes extra private, use this element of secrecy. You’ll feel like a spy from an adventure novel! Just be sure to keep the revealing technique secret as well.

Code word classified sections 

To organize your private notes while keeping them obscure, use code words to label any sensitive sections. For example title a section with health records as “cantaloupe farms”. Come up with code words that have nothing to do with the actual content. If someone searches your notes but doesn’t know your system, they still won’t be able to pinpoint the most confidential info. Mix real titles for innocent sections with coded titles for private sections to further throw off potential intruders.

Set up password protections 

If you’re private safenote system is on a phone, computer, or tablet, set up password protections so that only you access them. Secure your master passwords in a hidden location instead of using password storage features on web browsers. Also, be sure to use two-factor authentication on logins when available. With passwords and two-factor authentication, your private notes require multiple stages of access in case one method is compromised.

The above guide summarized multiple techniques for safeguarding your notes and private written materials:

1. Encryption
2. Codes and ciphers
3. Shorthand
4. Invisible ink
5. Hidden compartments
6. Fake accounts
7. Air gap isolation
8. Decoys
9. Steganography
10. Off-grid external storage
11. Burn after reading

What methods you choose depends on your specific privacy needs and the level of confidentiality required. Just don’t underestimate the value of keeping some things exclusively to yourself yet simultaneously accessible enough to reference later.