Encryption without mystery

No. Private Notes creates the encryption key inside your browser. The passphrase is used locally while unlocking the vault, is never written to browser storage or a MultiView backup, and is cleared from the widget after use. The current local-only version makes no network request for your vault.

MultiView stores one versioned encrypted envelope containing an encrypted note index, a separate authenticated ciphertext for each note body, and the non-secret information needed to decrypt them later, such as the salt, initialization vectors, algorithm names, and key-derivation settings. Note titles and note bodies are not stored as plaintext.

Yes. Settings → Data → Export backup includes the encrypted vault envelope. It does not include the master passphrase or decrypted notes. After restoring the backup, you still need the original passphrase to unlock the vault.

No. MultiView does not possess the passphrase or another recovery key. That is an important part of the privacy design, but it also means a lost passphrase makes the encrypted notes unrecoverable. Keep it in a trusted password manager or another safe place.

Open Settings → Data → Danger zone and choose Delete Private Notes vault. After a second confirmation, MultiView removes only the encrypted local vault and the widget can create a new one. An exported backup remains wherever you saved it and still requires the original passphrase.

It protects the contents of a locked vault when someone reads copied browser storage, an exported backup, or the stored data without knowing the passphrase. It is also useful against casual access by someone opening MultiView after the vault has locked.

The vault locks immediately when you close the Private Notes widget or when the MultiView tab becomes hidden, including when you change tabs or minimize the browser. If the browser window loses focus, a 10-second grace period begins; returning within that time restores the normal inactivity timer. While the vault remains open and focused, keyboard or pointer activity restarts the interval selected under Settings → Security.

Privacy mode conceals note titles and contents after the vault is unlocked. The selected note body remains encrypted until you deliberately reveal it, and choosing another note clears the previous plaintext body from the widget state. This reduces accidental exposure during ordinary use, but websites cannot reliably detect or prevent operating-system screenshots, screen recording, malicious extensions, or capture on a compromised device.

It cannot protect an unlocked vault, a compromised device, keyloggers, malicious browser extensions, screenshots, clipboard history, or malicious code running on the MultiView origin. A weak passphrase can also be guessed offline by someone who obtains the encrypted vault.

Private Notes uses AES-256-GCM through the browser Web Crypto API. GCM both encrypts the contents and detects changes to the ciphertext. A key is derived from the passphrase using PBKDF2-SHA-256 with a random salt. The encrypted index and each changed note body receive fresh random initialization vectors, and each body is authenticated together with its note ID so encrypted bodies cannot be swapped unnoticed.

Your browser independently selects seven words with cryptographically secure randomness from a pinned list of 2,048 words, providing 77 bits of measurable randomness. The list is loaded only when requested and must pass checks for its exact length, uniqueness, valid word shape, and expected SHA-256 fingerprint. The generated passphrase is not sent to MultiView or copied to the clipboard automatically.

They are not passwords and do not need to be secret. A salt makes identical passphrases derive different keys for different vaults. A fresh initialization vector ensures repeated encryption with the same key does not reuse the same AES-GCM input; it must be unique for each save.

Giving users a cipher menu makes it easy to select obsolete algorithms or unsafe combinations. Enigma is historical, Triple DES is legacy, DSA is for signatures rather than text encryption, RSA is normally one component of a larger protocol, and PGP is a broader message-encryption system. Private Notes uses one modern, authenticated configuration for real data.