Healthcare & Privacy
TalkWriter is not currently HIPAA certified and does not offer a Business Associate Agreement (BAA). However, TalkWriter is built with strong privacy practices that make it suitable for many dictation use cases. This page explains our approach honestly.
Current Status
| Compliance Item | Status |
|---|---|
| HIPAA certification | Not certified |
| BAA available | Not available |
| Audio stored on servers | No -- streamed in real time, not retained |
| Dictated text stored on servers | Processed in real time, not permanently retained |
| Encryption in transit | TLS 1.3 |
Privacy-First Approach
While TalkWriter is not HIPAA certified, it follows several privacy-first principles:
- No audio retention. Your voice is streamed to the speech engine in real time and is not recorded or stored on any server.
- No permanent text retention. Dictated text is processed through the AI pipeline and delivered to your device. It is not stored permanently on TalkWriter's servers.
- Encryption in transit. All data between your Mac and TalkWriter's servers uses TLS 1.3 encryption.
- Minimal data collection. TalkWriter collects only what is necessary: your account information, dictionary, snippets, and settings.
What This Means for Healthcare Professionals
If you are a healthcare professional considering TalkWriter for clinical documentation:
- For personal notes and non-PHI content: TalkWriter works well for dictating general notes, research summaries, and non-patient-specific documentation.
- For Protected Health Information (PHI): TalkWriter is not currently suitable for dictating content that contains PHI, as we do not have HIPAA certification or a BAA. Use a HIPAA-compliant dictation solution for patient records.
Roadmap
HIPAA compliance is on our roadmap for the Enterprise plan. If your organization needs HIPAA compliance, contact sales@talkwriter.ai to express interest and be notified when it becomes available.
FAQ
Can I use TalkWriter for medical dictation? You can use TalkWriter for general medical content that does not include PHI (patient names, IDs, diagnoses tied to specific patients). For PHI-containing dictation, wait until our HIPAA-certified Enterprise offering is available.
Is my dictated text stored anywhere? TalkWriter processes your text in real time. Audio is streamed and not stored. Text passes through the AI pipeline and is delivered to your device. Your dictionary, snippets, and settings are stored in the cloud for sync purposes.
Will TalkWriter offer HIPAA compliance in the future? Yes, HIPAA compliance is planned for the Enterprise plan. Contact sales@talkwriter.ai to be notified when it launches.
Was this helpful? Let us know at support@talkwriter.ai