How Synapse protects your data

Our approach to protecting your data

Security is the foundation of Synapse Chat, not a feature bolted on afterwards. We protect your data through a combination of encryption, Australian hosting, strict access controls, and verified-only membership.

Encryption in transit and at rest

• In transit: data is encrypted while it moves between your device and our servers, so it cannot be read in flight.
• At rest: stored data is encrypted on our systems.

Together these mean your communication is protected both while it is moving and while it is stored.

It is important to be precise here: Synapse Chat is not end-to-end encrypted. Synapse holds the encryption keys so that we can meet legal and compliance obligations such as legal hold. We explain exactly what that means, and what it does and does not allow, in Encryption and key custody.

Australian hosting

Synapse Chat is hosted on infrastructure located in Australia. The service is built specifically for Australian clinical professionals operating under Australian privacy law.

Verified-only access

Every member is reviewed by a human before they can join. Restricting the network to verified clinical professionals reduces the risk of impersonation and keeps communication between people who have each passed the same check. See Who can join Synapse Chat.

Access controls and auditing

Access to systems is tightly controlled and logged. We do not routinely scan the content of your messages. Where access is needed, for example to respond to a lawful legal-hold request, it is governed by strict internal controls and recorded.

Your part in keeping data safe

The strongest protection for patient privacy is to never put identifiable patient information into a message in the first place. Synapse Chat is for de-identified clinical communication only. See De-identified by default.