Data Custody & Recovery
HM Praxis keeps all of your clinical data on your own device, encrypted at rest. This page explains how that encryption works, the two ways to recover your data if a device is lost or reset, how backups protect you, and - stated honestly - what this design does and does not protect against.
No patient data is ever uploaded. The vendor connection covers your license and billing, your account details (name and members), and update metadata - nothing clinical.
Encrypted at Rest
All clinical data lives in an on-device SQLite database that is encrypted at rest with SQLCipher, and this is shipped on. Patient data is never stored in plaintext, and it never leaves your device for the vendor.
The encryption key lives in your operating system's keychain (the Windows Credential Manager, the macOS Keychain, or the Linux secret service), so the database unlocks automatically on your own machine while staying unreadable to anything that simply copies the file.
Recovery Option 1: License Key (Database Recovery)
If the OS keychain is ever lost, your encrypted database would otherwise be locked. HM Praxis gives you a way back in using the license key you already have.
Trigger the recovery screen
If the operating-system keychain that holds your encryption key is gone - after a reinstall, a new computer, or a profile reset - HM Praxis cannot find the key automatically and shows a "Recover your database" screen on launch.
Find your license key
Sign in to your account on this site and open your Licenses page. Copy the license key for HM Praxis.
Enter the key to unlock
Paste the license key into the "Recover your database" screen. HM Praxis uses it to unlock the encrypted database and you are back in, with your data intact.
Your license key is both your activation and your database recovery anchor. Store it the way you would store any important credential.
Because recovery is anchored to the license key that the platform also issues, this is a recoverability-first design, not a zero-knowledge one. The at-rest encryption genuinely protects against a stolen device or a copied database file - a thief does not have your license key, so the data stays sealed. It is intentionally not zero-knowledge against the vendor. We will not claim otherwise: this is a deliberate trade so you can always get your own data back, rather than a promise that no one but you could ever decrypt it.
Recovery Option 2: 12-Word Recovery Phrase
Clinics that sync across devices on Pro have a separate master key that protects the synced data end-to-end. To make that key recoverable on a new device, the first time you set up sync HM Praxis generates a 12-word recovery phrase.
- The phrase is shown once during sync setup - write it down and keep it safe.
- On a new device, you enter the phrase to reconstruct the master key and rejoin the synced data.
The recovery phrase exists for multi-device sync. A solo practitioner with no peers is not pushed through phrase setup just to use the app on one machine. See the Data Sync guide for how sync is set up.
Backups
Recovery anchors get you back into your database; backups protect the database itself. HM Praxis offers:
- Manual database backups with SHA-256 integrity verification, so a backup that has been corrupted or tampered with is caught before you ever rely on it.
- Export and import to a file, and restore from one.
- Automatic scheduled backups (Pro and up) to any local or network folder you choose.
On a new computer, restore a backup and then unlock it with your license key (or, for synced clinics, your 12-word phrase). The two together are what make a lost or replaced machine a non-event.
No Cloud PHI
HM Praxis never uploads patient data. The only traffic to the vendor is:
- Licensing and billing - activating and checking your subscription
- Account sync - your organization name and members
- Update metadata - checking for and fetching app updates
Clinical records, documents, and images all stay on your device (and, on Pro, sync only across your own devices over the local network). For team sync details see the Data Sync guide.
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