People have poured their hearts and souls into private diaries and journals, chronicling their innermost thoughts, dreams, fears, and experiences. A diary offers a space for raw honesty, self-reflection, and emotional processing. It provides much-needed catharsis and clarity amid life’s chaos.
Analyze your threats
Who might want access? How tech-savvy and determined are they? Tailor security to likely risks. Housemates or visitors snooping due to curiosity or concern pose a lower threat than a skilled hacker or obsessive ex launching a targeted campaign. Assess assets too-does your journal contain work ideas to patent, sensitive legal issues, revealing self-disclosures? Such info merits extra precaution. Binders and spiral notebooks easily be disassembled and then reassembled to hide tampering. Opt for an inner-threaded sewn binding in a book or diary with pages glued firmly in place. Number each page too so removals are noticeable. Monogramming foil stamps pages against substitutions. For extra precaution, lightly dab page edges with glue that cracks if disturbed.
Use invisible ink
Steganography, or hidden writing, has been used for centuries to conceal messages in plain sight. Take advantage of this by journaling partially or fully in invisible ink made with readily available ingredients. Various acidic juices, milk, and salty water all reveal tracings when heated. Or make disappearing ink that fades over days until treated with heat or chemicals. Just be sure to store a guide to safely cracking your code! Buy a sturdy lockbox, safe, locker, or locking file cabinet to store your journal when unattended, especially overnight. Security measures like combination locks, key locks, fingerprint access, and facial recognition ensure only you or other authorized parties gain entry. Bolt larger safes firmly in place to prevent theft. Know that no lock is impenetrable with enough resources and determination, but casual intruders skip past anything requiring work.
Establish a security questions system
how does privnote work? Store your journal together with a separate notebook listing fake “security questions” with answers known only to you, like “Where did we first meet?” and “What’s your oldest sibling’s middle name?” If you ever discover your diary has been disturbed or read in your absence, discreetly ask the suspects these questions later. Their inability to answer accurately implicates them! This is extra insurance against sneaky reading by housemates, visitors, and cleaning staff. Conceal your diary’s location when not on your person. Discourage curious eyes and probing fingers by storing them someplace completely unexpected, not your bedroom or office. Slip it inside a hollowed-out book on a shelf, underneath clutter in rarely opened boxes, or behind loose items on crowded utility room shelves. Vacant rental units also provide secure temporary hiding places. Just don’t accidentally lose your secret spot!
Use password protections
Beyond physical barriers, additional password precautions help safeguard diary content if someone manages to break in. Maintain a separate record of login credentials needed to decode encrypted files or access password-protected apps related to your journal. Enable two-factor authentication using one-time verification codes sent to your phone when digitizing entries. Password-manage all devices used to view private journal materials.
