Is Goodnotes HIPAA Compliant? The Risks of Using Goodnotes for PHI — And Why VaultBook Is the Secure Offline Alternative
If you’re a therapist, healthcare provider, researcher, legal professional, or anyone handling sensitive or regulated information, you’ve likely wondered: Is Goodnotes HIPAA compliant? Can Goodnotes safely store Protected Health Information (PHI) or Personally Identifiable Information (PII)?
The short answer: No, Goodnotes is not HIPAA compliant. And using it for PHI exposes you to significant privacy, ethical, and regulatory risks.
This article explains why Goodnotes, Notion, Evernote, OneNote, and other cloud-based notebook apps fall short for secure professional work—and why VaultBook is the only true offline, AES-GCM–protected, HIPAA-ready notebook that gives you full control of your data with zero cloud dependency.
Why Goodnotes Is Not HIPAA Compliant
Goodnotes is popular for handwriting and digital note-taking, but it relies on cloud storage and server-side infrastructure outside your control. This immediately disqualifies it from HIPAA compliance.
HIPAA requires:
Encryption during storage and transfer
Strict access control
Audit logs
Business Associate Agreements (BAAs)
Goodnotes does not sign a BAA with users. Therefore, any method of storing PHI within Goodnotes is automatically non-compliant.
Additionally, cloud syncing—even when encrypted—carries inherent risks because storage and decryption keys may exist on third-party infrastructure. Healthcare practices, therapists, and legal professionals cannot afford to rely on tools that do not explicitly meet compliance standards.
This is where VaultBook stands apart.
VaultBook: A 100% Offline, HIPAA-Ready, AES-GCM Protected Digital Notebook
Unlike Goodnotes, VaultBook was designed from the ground up for power users who must protect sensitive data. It never sends your information to a server. It never requires an internet connection. It never exposes your work to third-party providers.
Everything in VaultBook stays on your device—always.
100% Offline Architecture — Works with zero internet and zero accounts.
Password Protection + AES-GCM Encryption — Guard your notebook with industry-leading security.
HIPAA & PII-Ready — Built for clinicians, therapists, and sensitive practice data.
No Cloud Mandatory — You decide where files live and how they sync.
Goodnotes, Notion, OneNote, and Evernote store your data online. VaultBook keeps data where it belongs: with you.
Attach and Search PDFs, Word, Excel, Outlook MSG, and Images
Goodnotes is limited mostly to handwriting and basic documents. VaultBook takes document storage far further with a professional-grade attachment system.
Attach and instantly search across:
PDF documents
Microsoft Word files
Excel spreadsheets
Outlook MSG emails
Images and scanned documents
No cloud indexing. No uploads. No exposure. Everything remains offline and encrypted.
Organize with Pages, Labels, and Hierarchy
While apps like Evernote and OneNote get cluttered over time, VaultBook gives you a clean, structured way to organize complex professional work.
Pages for structured entries
Labels for cross-reference and filtering
Hierarchy for multi-layer organization
This makes it ideal for:
Case notes
Clinical assessments
Journalism field notes
Research documents
Financial modeling
Data analysis workflows
Expiry Limits & 60-Day Purge Policies to Protect Sensitive Information
Goodnotes cannot auto-expire notes or purge sensitive content.
VaultBook does.
Set expiry limits so notes securely self-delete after a selected number of days.
Automatic 60-day purge ensures sensitive data does not linger.
This is essential for HIPAA workflows, legal discovery protection, PII safety, and research compliance.
Multiple Built-In Professional Tools (Offline, No Cloud)
No cloud-based note-taking app—even the premium ones—comes close to the toolset bundled inside VaultBook:
File Explorer — Browse all attachments by type, entry, or page.
File Analyzer — Analyze & visualize CSV/TXT files instantly.
MP3 Cutter & Joiner — Trim silence, extract clips, and merge segments.
Save URL → Entry — Convert webpages into clean notes.
Folder Analyzer — See disk usage and file sizes across directories.
PDF Merge & Split — Combine PDFs or extract selected pages.
Photo & Video Explorer — Scan folders of media for quicker reference.
Kanban Board — Create tasks from notes and hashtags, add labels, filter views, switch between Board and Grid mode, and build multiple customizable boards.
Goodnotes doesn’t even come close to this power and versatility.
Sync Only If You Want To
VaultBook does not provide cloud sync by default—because true privacy means you decide how your data travels.
You can sync your VaultBook workspace using any provider:
Google Drive
Dropbox
iCloud Drive
OneDrive
Your own NAS or secure server
VaultBook’s folders (index, attachments, libraries, JSON files) sync like ordinary files—nothing is stored online unless you store it.
Who Benefits the Most from VaultBook?
VaultBook is now trusted by professionals who require strict confidentiality:
Therapists and counselors
Doctors and clinics
Researchers and PhD students
Financial analysts and accountants
Lawyers and legal teams
Data scientists & data analysts
Journalists and investigators
Students managing structured academic notes
Any profession that handles sensitive information will benefit from VaultBook’s offline-first, AES-GCM–protected environment.
Yearly Subscription to Support Continued Development
VaultBook offers a yearly subscription that supports continuous growth of its features, tools, UI enhancements, and offline capabilities. Unlike cloud-based companies that monetize user data or analytics, VaultBook remains independent—your support keeps it private and user-controlled.
Final Verdict: Goodnotes Is Not HIPAA Compliant — VaultBook Is the Safer Choice
If you require privacy, confidentiality, or regulatory safety, Goodnotes is simply not an option for PHI or sensitive work. Its cloud-first design cannot meet HIPAA requirements.
VaultBook is your personal digital vault:
Offline
Encrypted
Password protected
HIPAA & PII ready
Powerful and extensible
Always under your control
Professionals who cannot risk cloud exposure choose VaultBook—because their work deserves the highest level of privacy.
Your data. Your device. Your rules.