Here’s how safe, secure, and private Notion is:
As a tech platform, Notion is safe, secure, and private relative to the average competitor.
There are no outright safety concerns tied to Notion. Notion security is roughly average if not a little below average.
Notion’s privacy policies are slightly above average, but they are not winning awards.
So if you want to learn all about how safe, secure, and private Notion is exactly, then this article is for you.
Let’s get started!
What Is Notion?
I know. You came here to talk about safety and privacy and all of that.
But, can we really have a meaningful discussion if we don’t get the prerequisites out of the way?
Some of you have already used Notion. You can skip to the next step.
But if you’re not intimately familiar with it, let’s talk about what Notion really is.
It’s an online workspace platform that promotes company collaboration, productivity, organization, task management, and project management.
That sure is a nice list of stuff, and it’s all neatly available through this one service.
Notion was first released in 2016, and it runs on a subscription model.
You can access everything through the cloud, which means that essentially you pay for an account to gain access to the services.
You can use it with Android, iPhone, Mac, and Windows.
Regardless of how you set up your account, if you’re thinking about using Notion services, you’ll want to know if it is safe, secure, and private.
I have those answers, but I’m going to break it up into individual parts to make this a little easier.
Is Notion Safe?
Let’s start with safety.
What does it mean for service-based software to be safe?
If you ask a hundred people, you’ll get a hundred answers. So, here’s mine.
Software and computer services are safe if they do not actively harm you or your things.
This is clearly distinct from security, and it’s certainly a separate concept from privacy.
When I review the safety of Notion, I’m looking into a few specific ideas.
Does it crash your devices? Does it cause negative psychological impacts that can genuinely harm your well-being? Is it riddled with computer viruses? Is it a scam that is going to steal your money?
These are the kinds of ideas that come up with computer safety, and to give you the short answer up front, Notion is safe.
Harmless Software
Let’s justify that statement.
For starters, Notion is a legitimate software company. Technically, it is run by Notion Labs Inc.
I checked the SEC filing, and Notion Labs, Inc. is incorporated out of Delaware.
The business license is legit and up to date, so it’s definitely not a scam.
On top of that, there are no active reports of scams or fraud tied to the company.
Additionally, it has a business registration and official address in San Francisco.
The San Francisco office is a branch of the Delaware company, and it looks as though the main software development happens in San Francisco.
There are additional branches in Colorado and New Jersey. Everything is properly filed and above board.
There’s also the issue of how Notion works with your computer.
It clearly is not riddled with viruses, and it is not known to crash or damage computers in any way.
Your hardware is safe with Notion.
As for any psychological impacts, that’s a lot harder to discern.
I can say that there are no mainstream studies looking into the deleterious effects of working with Notion.
There are no major complaints. By every available resource, it’s as safe as any other software service that you can find.
Notion won’t break your brain or make you lose sleep at night. At least, it shouldn’t.
Is Notion Secure?
Notion is safe, but is it secure? Does it put your personal or financial information at risk? Can people exploit Notion to steal information from you or get your passwords or anything like that?
These are important questions, and before we get into the specifics of Notion, it’s important to cover the basics.
First, no internet-based service is perfectly secure.
With enough effort and creativity, the system can be compromised, and you’ve seen headlines about major companies having data breaches.
Nothing is perfect.
So instead of using some absolute scale, it’s usually better to compare software companies to each other.
How does Notion stack up against the rest of the field?
The short answer to that question is that Notion is in the middle of the pack. Arguably, it’s a little below the middle of the pack.
You can definitely find less secure stuff, but Notion isn’t breaking down security boundaries and ushering in a new era of digital confidence.
The Good and the Bad
How did I come to that determination?
For starters, I reviewed Notion’s security practices.
Your account is password-protected, and that’s important.
It means that people cannot easily steal your account, and that helps to protect any data you have saved on Notion’s cloud services.
But, Notion doesn’t currently offer two-factor authentication.
You will find some companies that allow you to choose whether or not you use two-factor authentication, but at least offering it is something of an industry-standard these days.
For those who don’t know, two-factor authentication is an extra layer of security that kicks in after you type in your username and password.
With Notion, the username and password are enough to sign in. When two-factor authentication is present, there’s an extra step after that.
Typically, you will get a text or an email with a temporary security code. You type that in, and then you can log in.
The point is that someone has to have your username, password, and access to the second authentication method (your phone or email address) in order to steal information from you.
That extra step makes a big difference.
So, that’s a strike against Notion.
On the positive side, the company uses industry-standard encryption to protect your information.
That’s important, and it’s present, but it’s not special. In this regard, Notion is adequate.
Notion could improve on the encryption front by offering end-to-end encryption, but that is not a standard in the tech industry.
Companies that do end-to-end encryption are ahead of the pack.
These are the main points related to Notion security.
There are no reported widespread data breaches with the company so far, and that’s always good.
