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| kb:mendeley_import [2020/01/28 10:44] – [The Import Process] dstillman | kb:mendeley_import [2021/02/03 18:47] – [The Import Process] dstillman |
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| ===== Mendeley Database Encryption ===== | ===== Mendeley Database Encryption ===== |
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| Mendeley 1.19 and later have begun encrypting the local database, making it unreadable by Zotero and other standard database tools. Elsevier made this change a few months after Zotero publicly announced work on an importer, despite having long touted the openness of its database format as a guarantee against lock-in and [[https://service.elsevier.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/22098/kw/database/supporthub/mendeley/|erroneously continuing to state]] in its documentation that the database can be accessed using standard tools. At the same time, Mendeley continues to import data from Zotero’s own open database, as it has since 2009. | Mendeley 1.19 and later have begun encrypting the local database, making it unreadable by Zotero and other standard database tools. Elsevier made this change a few months after Zotero publicly announced work on an importer, despite having long touted the openness of its database format as a guarantee against lock-in and explaining in its documentation that the database could be accessed using standard tools. At the same time, Mendeley continues to import data from Zotero’s own open database, as it has since 2009. |
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| The [[https://www.mendeley.com/release-notes/v1_19|Mendeley 1.19 release notes]] claimed that the encryption was for “improved security” on shared machines, yet applications rarely encrypt their local data files, as file protections are generally handled by the operating system with account permissions and full-disk encryption, and anyone using the same operating system account or an admin account can already install a keylogger to capture passwords. Elsevier later [[https://twitter.com/mendeley_com/status/1006915998841221120|stated]] that the change was required by new European privacy regulations — a bizarre claim, given that those regulations are designed to give people control over their data and guarantee data portability, not the opposite — and continued to assert, falsely, that full local export was still possible, while [[https://twitter.com/mendeley_com/status/1006919608471818240|repeatedly]] [[https://twitter.com/MendeleySupport/status/1006920802120470528|dismissing]] reports of the change as "#fakenews". | The [[https://www.mendeley.com/release-notes/v1_19|Mendeley 1.19 release notes]] claimed that the encryption was for “improved security” on shared machines, yet applications rarely encrypt their local data files, as file protections are generally handled by the operating system with account permissions and full-disk encryption, and anyone using the same operating system account or an admin account can already install a keylogger to capture passwords. Elsevier later [[https://twitter.com/mendeley_com/status/1006915998841221120|stated]] that the change was required by new European privacy regulations — a bizarre claim, given that those regulations are designed to give people control over their data and guarantee data portability, not the opposite — and continued to assert, falsely, that full local export was still possible, while [[https://twitter.com/mendeley_com/status/1006919608471818240|repeatedly]] [[https://twitter.com/MendeleySupport/status/1006920802120470528|dismissing]] reports of the change as "#fakenews". |
| ** If you’ve already upgraded to 1.19 and have an automatic backup of your Mendeley SQLite database in the Mendeley data directory:** | ** If you’ve already upgraded to 1.19 and have an automatic backup of your Mendeley SQLite database in the Mendeley data directory:** |
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| Locate your [[https://service.elsevier.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/18153/|Mendeley data directory]] and look for a backupSlot1 (or higher) folder. If you see a database in the form %%<email>@www.mendeley.com.sqlite%% within one of the backup directories, copy it into the data directory one level up. Then start the import in Zotero by going to File → “Import…”, choosing the “Mendeley” option, and selecting that database. | Locate your [[https://service.elsevier.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/18153/|Mendeley data directory]] and look for a backupSlot1 (or higher) folder. If you see a file in the form %%<email>@www.mendeley.com.sqlite%% within one of the backup directories, copy it into the data directory one level up. Then start the import in Zotero by going to File → “Import…”, choosing the “Mendeley” option, and selecting that database. |
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| If the backupSlot//N// folder contains an .sqlite filename with a long string of random characters, the backup has already been overwritten by the encrypted database. Check another backupSlot folder or use one of the methods below. | If the backupSlot//N// folder contains an .sqlite filename with a long string of random characters, the backup has already been overwritten by the encrypted database. Check another backupSlot folder or use one of the methods below. |
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| | Other .sqlite files in the folder — database.sqlite, monitor.sqlite, and Settings.sqlite — are not relevant. |
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| ** If you’ve already upgraded to 1.19 and have a recent backup of your Mendeley SQLite database:** | ** If you’ve already upgraded to 1.19 and have a recent backup of your Mendeley SQLite database:** |
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