Advanced Data Protection - Shared Apple Notes

Software
1

I am trying to understand what will happen with my shared Apple Notes if I turned on ADP. I have one note shared with a couple of people. I also have a couple folders shared with my wife. If I turn on ADP (and not one else has it turned on), will:

  1. The current note / folders I share stop being shared?
  2. The shared note / folders will still work but NOT be E2EE? All non-shared notes be E2EE?

I will eventually turn on ADP for my wife’s account, so hopefully I won’t have to re-share any notes / folders with her.

2

I run ADP but I have never tried to share info with anyone,

However, Apple says: “Advanced Data Protection is designed to maintain end-to-end encryption for shared content as long as all participants have Advanced Data Protection enabled. ”

So, based on the above statement and the following discussion, it looks like you would not be able to continue to share Notes unless everyone with whom you share information also has ADP turned on.

Apple Notes “A link couldn’t be created for you to share.”

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3

I have ADP switched on and a have note created before the switch on that is still shared with that person and can also create a new note and share with a family member who also doesn’t have it switched on.

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4

Thanks for confirming!

5

FYI, I turned on ADP on my account and confirmed shared folders / notes are still accessible on other users accounts that do not have ADP turned on. I assume the rest of my notes are E2EE.

6

Interesting. I wonder if the ADP documentation is incorrect/misleading or if ADP has a vulnerability that Apple may not be aware of?

7

Or, the shared notes aren’t E2EE and the rest are. The way I read the documentation from Apple is if both parties have ADP turned on, the shared note in E2EE. In my case, it probably reverts to standard encryption.

I am not sure how to test if ADP is working. I turned it on in settings, but I guess I just have to trust that things are E2EE.

8

I wonder if it’s because those were shared prior to you turning on ADP. Going forward the shared notes will be E2E if those you share them with have it turned on.

9

I just tried to share a new note with my wife as a collaborator. It never generated the link. I’ll try again after I turn on ADP on her account.

10

After turning on ADP for my wife’s account, I was able to create a new shared note for her to collaborate with me. So looks like I won’t be able to share new notes to people who don’t have ADP enabled. That isn’t a big issue for me, as mainly just my wife and I share notes.

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