eDiary

An eDiary, or electronic diary, is a digital tool for recording personal experiences, thoughts, feelings, and events in a computer, smartphone, or online service. Compared with a paper diary, an eDiary stores entries electronically and often provides features such as timestamps, search and tagging, multimedia attachments, and cross-device synchronization. People use eDiaries for personal journaling, habit tracking, mood monitoring, travel logs, or medical data collection.

eDiaries take several forms, including standalone apps, web-based services, and integrated health or wellness platforms. In clinical research, electronic diaries are used to collect patient-reported outcomes via secure interfaces with time-stamped entries to improve data quality and reduce recall bias.

Common features include password or biometric protection, encryption, offline data entry, automated backups, and data export options. Many apps offer search, tags, reminders, and analytics such as mood trends. Privacy and security considerations are central, with compliance to data protection laws such as GDPR and, in healthcare contexts, HIPAA or equivalent standards.

Because eDiary is a broad term, there is no single standard product. Implementations vary from simple digital journals to comprehensive health-tracking platforms, with data portability and interoperability dependent on platform policies and export formats.