The state of access protection (password/encryption) on e-reader devices

[fx32]

Hey!

I'm trying to decide which brand of e-reader to buy for some of our employees.

The readers will mainly be used by engineers and managers, to read reference manuals and reports, often in areas with limited internet and power (which is why I'm interested in e-readers). The problem is that many of these documents contain detailed information about products and manufacturing techniques.

Currently, most manuals are stored on a server, as plain text files or PDFs produced from a plaintext latex/xetex source, and people just print to paper what they need for a job -- not very secure either. It's not the kind of information worthy of corporate espionage, but I'd still like to limit exposure as much as possible in case someone loses their reader.

Could technically inclined owners of e-readers tell me something about what their device supports in terms of access protection, either officially, or through community efforts?

• Are there any readers with full storage encryption? (haha, of course not)
• Failing that, are there any readers with user/password management, or a simple lock screen?
• Are there any readers with support for specific types of single-file encryption, like AES265-encrypted PDFs?

I understand that I'm not going to find unbreakable protection for this application, but would nevertheless be interested in some options, even flawed ones. I've seen mixed reports about a simple lock screen plugin for Kobo readers (hacky?), and password protected PDF support on Kindle (only 40 bit? or also 128/265?). Can custom reader apps provide any extra features?

If all else fails, we'll just forego access protection alltogether, and try to keep the amount of documents stored per reader limited.

Thanks in advance!

[Dr. Drib]

Thread moved to "Which One Should I Buy" forum.


Don
(Moderator)

[DaleDe]

Generally tablets and ePhones have password protection. Tablets can be a good choice for reading, particularly PDF files. All Apple devices have password protection and even fingerprint. As you have guessed you don't get passwords on eReaders. However, some use Android OS so, on those, it should be possible to have passwords although you might have to jailbreak the unit to get to them.

Dale

[fx32]

Originally Posted by DaleDe

Tablets can be a good choice for reading, particularly PDF files.

Thanks for the response!

Currently, we tend to use smartphones to reference documentation. To me, e-ink devices seem quite attractive because of their longer battery life.

If I run PDFtk over all the PDFs in our library, using the standard AES128 user_pw feature, is there an e-ink device which can open it?

[barryem]

Kindles have password protection but I've never used it so I can't tell you how secure it is. They're not very good, however, for PDF files. They'll work with PDF if the text can be flowed but things like two column pages and tables and charts are less than ideal. They are fine for text files and PDF's can be made of text files that work well on a Kindle.

I'm not aware of password protection on other ereaders although some may have it. Most don't work as well with PDF as Kindles do.

There are larger e-ink ereaders with Android, usually version 4.? available. I don't know much about them but they might be usable with PDF and support passwords. They come in sizes up to about 13". 9" models aren't too unusual. I've never seen one of these things and I don't really know much about them except that they exist. Some do have access to Google Play, which means there should be plenty of apps for them. It might even be possible to read encrypted files.

I'm not sure how much help all this is but it might give you some things to look into.

Barry

[DaleDe]

Originally Posted by fx32

Thanks for the response!

Currently, we tend to use smartphones to reference documentation. To me, e-ink devices seem quite attractive because of their longer battery life.

If I run PDFtk over all the PDFs in our library, using the standard AES128 user_pw feature, is there an e-ink device which can open it?

this is not a device question but an application question. It is the application that must respond to the protection feature. You need to look for PDF support with password protection inside the app.

Dale

[fx32]

Thanks!

I might go with kindle in that case, from reviews and tests it seems to handle PDFs the best.

Reflow/columns aren't that big of a problem. Mostly it's just simple text PDFs, with some formulas here and there (example: 850 pages, only 4MB).

Although I've just found out that the Sony Digital Paper has good PDF support, and security options like a login & file encryption. Bit large form factor and price tag at $800, but it looks like a great option as well.

Originally Posted by DaleDe

this is not a device question but an application question. It is the application that must respond to the protection feature. You need to look for PDF support with password protection inside the app.
Dale

Then the question is, do the standard Kindle or Kobo readers open user password protected PDFs, or do any of the third party apps like KOReader?

[Doitsu]

Originally Posted by fx32

I might go with kindle in that case, from reviews and tests it seems to handle PDFs the best.

IMHO, the Kindle PDF app isn't that great to put it mildly, however, you could use Willus.com's K2pdfopt to reformat existing .pdf files for 6" screens.

Originally Posted by fx32

Then the question is, do the standard Kindle or Kobo readers open user password protected PDFs, or do any of the third party apps like KOReader?

The built-in Kindle PDF app will automatically display a password dialog box if you try to open a password protected .pdf file.

[fx32]

Originally Posted by Doitsu

The built-in Kindle PDF app will automatically display a password dialog box if you try to open a password protected .pdf file.

Amazing. That's exactly the visual confirmation I was looking for!

Regarding formatting: It's not that much of a problem. Like I said, the source files are some Tex flavor with very little special typesetting features. We can relatively easily re-render and encrypt all PDFs again for different sizes and page formats. I realize it's much less optimized compared to true ebook formats where you can dynamically scale/change the fonts and margins on the device itself, but that's OK.

I initially preferred Kobo for their waterproof casings on the higher end models, but after watching a bunch of reviews, and PDF performance does really seem to be best on Kindle devices (even if it's not perfect).

[Doitsu]

Originally Posted by fx32

I've seen mixed reports about a simple lock screen plugin for Kobo readers (hacky?), and password protected PDF support on Kindle (only 40 bit? or also 128/265?).

I just tested a PDF file with an 128bit AES key and the Kindle app was able to open it. However, it doesn't seem to support 256bit AES keys.

[JSWolf]

Forget any 6" eInk Reader. None of them are suitable for PDF. You'd be best with a tablet for PDF.

[AnemicOak]

What about an Onyx M96, n96 or Boox Max or maybe even the i86. Then just run an Android PDF reader app that will accomplish what the OP wants.