privacy on smartphone

[claire__h]

hi - can anyone help?

i use a palm treo for work/leisure. i sync my calander and tasks with my work pc which is networked. i keep a private journal on my palm in notes and was horrified to see that it comes up on my pc in my computer. the file titles are there but you cant open them up. however, you can cut and paste them onto the pc desktop and then open and read them! i doubt anyone would go to the bother of doing this but i dont want to have to censor my journal writing. any way that i can keep info on my phone and not have it transfer or back up at all to my work pc?
if this doesnt happen on another smart phone i'd be interested to know as i might change phones
thanks

 

[dschaffner]

Clare,

Try this:

1. Right click on the hotsync icon on your pc taskbar.
2. Choose "custom"
3. Go down to "memos" and choose "do nothing".

That should stop the syncing.

If your treo is set up differently than mine, the above might not be exactly correct, but the basic idea is the same: Stop the treo notes from syncing with the desktop by changing the conduit settings.

- Don

 

[claire__h]

thanks don - i have tried to do this. my phone sounds slightly different to yours as there isnt an option to do nothing but my notes are not set up to sync at all. it seems that they do this despite my setting it not to sync?! i guess it is some kind of backup system and it is this i want to disable but cant find out how!

 

[Oogiem]

hi - can anyone help?
any way that i can keep info on my phone and not have it transfer or back up at all to my work pc?

Setting the conduit will eliminate all synching of all memos, if you have work ones they will not synch as well.

I'd look into some encryption systems. I know I read about some for Palm OS and I'd encrypt your journal memos. I did a quick google search and there are several encryption programs that might work. SOme will encrypt specific or all memos others are separate memo/notetaking applications that store all data encrypted.

Also be aware of the limit in memo size on the Palm, I suspect you'll end up with multiple memos that are your journal.

 

[BigStory]

A second program

You could install another memo program, such as the one found in KeySuite by Chapura. This would allow you to sync a completely separate notes database with your home computer.

HTH,
Gordon

 

[TesTeq]

There's no privacy any more.

There's no privacy any more. Do you really write things that you feel ashamed of in your journal?

 

[br4978]

There's no privacy any more. Do you really write things that you feel ashamed of in your journal?

Interesting that the concept of privacy is interpreted as an indicator of shame. If I had health issues I wanted kept confidential from an employer, or wanted to journal about my personal feelings as an exercise in exploring for personal growth, it's hardly a matter of shame.

The lack of privacy is a well-taken point, though. Digitizing personal information is ill-advised - better to get a paper journal.

 

[TesTeq]

Unhealthy relationship.

If I had health issues I wanted kept confidential from an employer

Don't you think that this is a symptom of an unhealthy relationship with an employer? I know that it may sound idealistic, but wouldn't it be a better world if you could trust your employer and know that he will support you when you are sick instead of firing you?

 

[kewms]

Don't you think that this is a symptom of an unhealthy relationship with an employer? I know that it may sound idealistic, but wouldn't it be a better world if you could trust your employer and know that he will support you when you are sick instead of firing you?

Getting fired (or not) isn't the point. The point is that I'm not interested in sharing my health issues (or my personal life, or my struggles with my own limitations) with random people in my company's IT department. With trusted coworkers, maybe. With my management, maybe. With anyone who happens to have access to the company systems, no, any more than I would share with random people walking on the sidewalk outside my house.

Personally, I think some degree of privacy is essential for most higher-level thinking. First efforts are almost always awful. Being forced to display them to the waiting world can crush whatever gem of inspiration they might have contained.

Katherine

 

[TesTeq]

Do not put Top Secrets in your smartphone.

Katherine, you are right.

Returning to the topic - my main point is that there is no absolute privacy possible in the smartphone environment. We should classify our information just like the army does and store it appropriately.

Do not put Top Secrets in your smartphone.