Answers
What is zero-knowledge encryption?
Zero-knowledge encryption means your data is encrypted with a key that only you have, so the company storing it holds nothing it can read. The provider knows that you stored something, but not what it says.
How it works
Your device creates or derives the key, usually from a password or a recovery phrase, and encrypts each piece of data before it is saved or sent anywhere. The provider only ever receives the encrypted result.
Because the provider never has the key, it cannot decrypt your data — not for a support request, a court order, an advertiser, or an attacker who breaks into its servers.
What it does not promise
- It does not hide that you use the service, when you use it, or roughly how much you store. That information is called metadata.
- It does not protect data on a device that is unlocked and compromised. The device has to decrypt your notes to show them to you.
- It does not let anyone recover your data if you lose the key. If a service can reset your password and give you your data back, it — or someone — holds a way in.
How to check a claim
Ask two questions. Can the company reset your password and restore your data? If yes, it is not zero-knowledge. Does any feature process your content on the company’s servers, such as cloud AI or server-side search? If yes, those features can see it.
In Prevon, notes are encrypted on your device with a key made from a 12-word Recovery Seed that we never see or store. There is no password reset, and the AI and search are designed to run on the device. Prevon is in a private beta and has not had an independent security audit. It is designed so that we cannot read your notes; until someone outside the company has checked that, “designed” is the accurate word.
Prevon is in private beta.
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