How secure are Apple notes?

Notes will be as secure as your Apple ID is. Moreso if you also lock them.

See this... you will be locked out of your own Notes if you lose the password. I would consider that safe.

Keep your notes secure with password-protection - Apple Support

As mentioned, any suggestion that Apple gives out keys is nonsense.

Read here on the communities about users locked out of their devcie and accounts and how Apple won't let them back in because they can't be verified as the rightful account holder.

I think Apple's position on device and account security is quite clear.

newMacbook12' wrote:

If I do my journal writing on Apple notes and lock the notes, are they EVER accessible by anybody else? I know Apple potentially can give away encryption keys for iCloud as they did with the case in the US, but what if my Apple Notes are locked, can these be ever accessible by anybody else?

Apple can't give away encryption keys, because Apple does not have your encryption keys. What they did in the case of the San Bernardino terrorist incident is to give access to the iCloud account to the FBI. They probably did this by changing the password on the account, as that would be easy and straightforward. So in that sense anything stored in iCloud is at least theoretically vulnerable. However, if the content in iCloud is itself encrypted independently of your iCloud password, then access to iCloud would not compromise your encrypted data. So if you encrypt your notes with a strong passcode they will not be accessible even if Apple is forced to respond to a court order to give access to your iCloud account.

You might also try looking for alternative notes apps that provide built-in encryption. A quick search of the app store turns up dozens, so you can look for reviews of promising ones.

Note also, however, that courts are undecided if you can be forced to reveal your passcodes. In some cases people have been required to reveal passcodes under threat of contempt of court charges, which can send you to jail. In others the courts have held that revealing passcodes would violate the 5th amendment right against self-incrimination. As of today there is no clear answer.

You can take help of this article : https://support.apple.com/kb/ph20119?locale=en_US

to save your confidential notes and for your info encryption used is 128 Bit AES and passwords are always encrypted and your notes data cannot be revealed .

I haven't read anything that suggested Apple gave away the keys to anything.

If you lock your notes, it is highly doubtful that anyone will be able to 'crack' them. Apple uses strong encryption and resisted the FBI attempts to make them unlock an iPhone. While there can't be any absolute guarantees against hackers, locking your notes should provide strong security protection if you use a strong, complicated password.

newMacbook12' wrote:

If I do my journal writing on Apple notes and lock the notes, are they EVER accessible by anybody else? I know Apple potentially can give away encryption keys for iCloud as they did with the case in the US, but what if my Apple Notes are locked, can these be ever accessible by anybody else?

Like Eric, I've never heard of Apple giving encryption keys to anyone. Apple has a better track record on keeping customer data secured than most companies.

There is always a balance between convenience and security. If you use a strong passcode on your Apple ID, an a complex passcode on all of your devices, and you protect your passcodes, the chances of of anyone getting your information are slim. You need to ask yourself how much effort anyone would be willing to expend to get your information. Unless you have an illicit affair with a famous person, become a whistle blower or get involved in a really messy divorce, it seems unlikely that anyone would be likely to try. I'm certainly not trying to belittle you. I suspect most of us fall into that category.