CryptPad, a privacy-friendly open-source collaboration suite

Description: CryptPad is a collaborative document, spreadsheet, and presentation editor. It supports rich text, polls, whiteboards, and presentations, among others. CryptPad functions similarly to other office productivity suites but prioritises security and privacy. One of the main advantages of this tool is that sharing a document is as simple as getting a shareable URL. Moreover, the built-in chat allows different editors to talk to each other in real time. CryptPad does not require signing up for use, although creating an account provides additional features and benefits, such as saving documents and accessing them from multiple devices. It is free and open-source, allowing anyone to access and modify its source code. CryptPad is developed by a core team of three developers and other contributors.

Evaluation: Cryptpad functions similarly to other collaborative editors but prioritises security and privacy. All its content is encrypted and decrypted by the browser, which means that no one outside the session has access to the information. The tool is available in many languages. While it may initially require some time to get familiarised with its interface and features, CryptPad is generally time-saving and easy to use. Basic IT skills required.

Cost: Free without registration, registration for more features.

Respect for privacy Privacy evaluations indicate how a tool handles personal data collection, storage, and sharing, including GDPR compliance and security measures, among others. The ICT-REV team provides them for informational purposes, reflecting our best understanding at the time of review, but assumes no legal responsibility for the accuracy or completeness of these evaluations and encourages users to conduct their own assessments: Very high. CryptPad keeps data private through encryption and decryption. This means that documents, chats, and files are unreadable outside of the session where you are logged in, even for service administrators. In this manner, if the server is compromised, the database holds encrypted data that is not of much value to attackers. This encrypted data is stored in France. CryptPad complies with the GDPR. See more here and here.

Type Of Interaction: Group/pair work - classmates, Group/pair work - outsiders, Individual work,

Skills: Writing,

Content: Website/other users supply, You supply,

Usability and tech notes ▼