Improved Security Measures
-
Hello,
I see that my wish is better placed in this forum.
For an app that keeps such private information as private thoughts and feelings, I would wish better security measures as:
- 2-factor-authentification
- Possibility to change the encryption key without creating a new account
- Auto-log-off-feature for the Web app
- E-Mail information when you log in to Day One to get informed about every succesful log in to identify abuse
- Possibility to see all connected devices with possibility to log off
Do you have any plans to support this?That would give me much more trust and a better feeling to put my thoughts into Day One.
Thanks and best,
Elysee
-
Hi @cryptycus
We actually have existing feature requests for all of these security measures, so I’ve added your vote to each one for consideration.
No immediate plans, but they are definitely on our radar. Thanks for the suggestions!
-
Wait, there is no 2FA? I must have overlooked that. *Please* implement this, to me this seems like a bare minimum of security for such sensitive data.
Also consider implementing fishing-resistant credentials like passkeys while you’re at it.
+1 on the other requests as well.
-
-
Hello,
Picking this thread back up — it’s now been a while and none of these security gaps have been addressed, which is disappointing for an app that holds people’s private thoughts.
The issues I keep running into:
- Still no 2FA. This has been requested for years, and at this point it isn’t a “nice to have” — it’s the essential baseline security standard for any app in 2026, let alone one storing people’s private thoughts and feelings. Password-only protection is simply not an acceptable standard anymore.
- No way to rotate the encryption key. If a key is ever suspected to be compromised, the only option is deleting the account and starting over — which also seems to disrupt the subscription. For sensitive data, key rotation shouldn’t require abandoning your journal history.
- No app lock on Windows/web. Anyone with access to the machine can open the journal directly, since there’s no passcode or biometric lock outside of iOS/Mac.
- No on-device (client-side) encryption. Encryption currently happens server-side, meaning Day One itself is technically in a position to access unencrypted content. True end-to-end / zero-knowledge encryption, where the key never leaves the user’s device, would be a real trust upgrade.
Honestly, the lack of movement on any of this over such a long period makes it look like security simply isn’t a priority. That’s especially concerning right now — AI-assisted attacks are making credential stuffing, phishing, and vulnerability exploitation faster and more effective than ever, so gaps like missing 2FA are far easier to exploit today than when this thread started. A breach here wouldn’t mean leaked photos or documents — it would mean someone’s most private thoughts. That’s a fundamentally different, more severe kind of exposure, and it deserves to be treated as such.
I’m seriously considering moving my journal elsewhere if these fundamentals continue to be deprioritized.
Thanks,
Cryptycus
-
-
Here is where things stand on each point:
- Two-factor authentication: this isn’t available yet for accounts that sign in with email and password. If you sign in with Apple or Google instead, you already get that provider’s own 2FA on top of your Day One login. We don’t have a timeline for adding 2FA to email/password sign-in at this point.
- Changing your encryption key without starting over: Currently the only way to get a new key is to generate one with a new account, which only protects new data going forward, not entries already encrypted under the old key. We can help transfer a subscription to a new account if necessary, and you don’t have to abandon your journal history as you can also transfer journals to the new account. Journal history is only lost if the key is lost.
- App lock on Windows and web: We have added an app lock for Windows, but not for the web app yet. We suggest signing out if you’re using the web app on a shared device.
We continue to track requests for these features, but at this point I can’t provide any promises about when they might be implemented.
