[madgreek]

I have recently upgraded to the new AlBook 1.5GHz 15" and want to start using Apple's Address Book application. My only concern is I understand that it was designed to pass information from the Address Book to certain apps and such -- maybe out to the Internet too, but I'm not sure about that one.

Since I want to use the NOTES field in Address Book for all my passwords, serial numbers and other highly personal info I'm worried that this info could get out somehow. Am I being overly paranoid?

I'm hoping the only fields that can get "sent out" to other apps and such are the address fields and not the Notes field. Can anyone confirm this for me?

[ntsc]

The address book application is actually just a front end to a system wide accessible contacts database. so if your looking to store information which needs to be kept absolutely secure its probably not fantastic. look at notes in Keychain for that is what i would suggest.

[Developer]

Originally posted by madgreek:
Since I want to use the NOTES field in Address Book for all my passwords, serial numbers and other highly personal info I'm worried that this info could get out somehow. Am I being overly paranoid?

The Address Book is most certainly not the right place to store sensitive data like passwords.

Use the Secure Note feature of the Keychain utility. It's designed for that purpose.

[Turias]

Either use the Keychain or a third party app like PasswordWallet. For sensitive data like passwords, it is pretty essential that they are stored in an encrypted file.

[Big Mac]

Address Book is a contact directory - nothing more or less. The only notes you should be storing on there are non-sensitive ones related to the individuals in question. Now for sensitive information, you have a million different apps to choose from. You obviously need one that uses encryption. You can use Keychain Access, which is built into the OS, to store passwords and secure notes. Or you can go the freeware/shareware route:

My Pick (and the only one I've used): Alco Blom's Web Confidential
I recommend Web Confidential because it's stable, is updated frequently and has simply stood the test of time.

Just going by VersionTracker's results for the keywords "password manager," I picked some others that are also highly rated (in no particular order):

CiphSafe
Pastor
PasswordMenu
BeSafe
PersonalSerialDatabase
Steel
Safe Place
PasswordWallet
PC-Mac Password Vault Lite
MindFortress
SwordFish
PasswordMaster

Edit: I forgot to add one major point. The reason why I use Web Confidential in addition to the Keychain, as opposed to the Keychain/Keychain Access alone is because Keychain Access is a bare bones application. It doesn't provide the organizational or search features of an app like Web Confidential. You'll still want to let applications and the OS automatically use the Keychain, but you'll also want to store your login information in one of the suggested applications. Once you take a look at Keychain Access and compare it to Web Confidential, you'll see why it's worth buying. Glad we could be of help.

[madgreek]

Thanks to everyone for such fast and informative responses!

I was afraid the Address Book was not the place to store such items. I will check out that Web Confidential program as was suggested. Up to now, I've been using an old Classic program to store a lot of personal info, but I want to get away from having to use Classic with my new "book."

Thanks again for all the assistance!!!!