100% local · no uploads · free

Password Protect Medical Records

Medical records move between people constantly: a specialist referral, records requested by a patient, imaging reports sent to another practice, or a file kept on a laptop that leaves the building. Each of those is a moment where an unencrypted document is one mistaken address away from a disclosure.

Encrypting the PDF with a password is the straightforward mitigation. The file becomes unreadable without the password, so an email sent to the wrong recipient or a lost USB stick is an inconvenience rather than a breach.

The difficulty with doing this through an online service is circular. To have a document encrypted, you first upload it unencrypted, and type the password into a form on the same service. For a few moments the record and the key to it both sit on infrastructure you do not control and cannot audit. For patient data that is precisely the exposure you were trying to close.

Here the encryption runs in your browser using a WebAssembly build of qpdf. The record never leaves the device and neither does the password, so there is no transfer to account for, no retention period to verify and no processor agreement to put in place.

AES-256 is the level to choose. AES-128 exists for compatibility with older readers and RC4-40 only because some legacy systems still require it. Send the password by a different channel from the file itself, since emailing both together leaves anyone reading the message holding each half.

Open the encryption tool →

Files never leave your device
No size limits
Free, no sign-up

Frequently asked questions

Does this make my workflow HIPAA compliant?

No tool makes a workflow compliant on its own, and any claim otherwise should be treated carefully. What this does is keep processing local, so no data is transmitted to or stored by a third party, which supports the data minimisation principle. Compliance depends on your wider procedures.

How strong is AES-256 in practice?

The cipher itself is not the weak point. Practical strength depends almost entirely on the password, since a short or predictable one can be attacked regardless of the encryption level. Use a long passphrase.

Can I remove the password later?

Yes, if you know it. The same tool decrypts as well as encrypts, which is often needed before merging records or running OCR, since most tools cannot open an encrypted file.

How should I send the password to the recipient?

Through a different channel from the document. A password sent in the same email as the attachment provides no protection against anyone who can read that email.

Is the record uploaded to encrypt it?

No. Both the file and the password stay in your browser. You can confirm this in the Network tab while the encryption runs.