AI tools and client data
Is Heidi Scribe safe for client data?
Short answer: Whether Heidi Scribe is safe for client data turns on which plan your staff are on, which account they signed in with, and what you have told them they may put in it — not on the product itself. On Free, Heidi Health may use what the appointment recording contains to train its models; on Standard and Max, Heidi Health says it does not train its models on what the appointment recording contains, by default; on Enterprise, Heidi Health says it does not train its models on what the appointment recording contains, by default. Every fact on this page is Heidi Health's own, quoted from its own pages and dated, and where we did not find a statement this page says so rather than filling the gap. Obsidian Ridge's free 30-day AI security assessment shows which AI tools your staff actually use.
See which AI tools your staff usePlan by plan, in Heidi Health’s own words
An ambient AI scribe: it listens to the appointment and writes the note. Heidi says it keeps no audio. What it does keep is the transcript, for as long as the account's retention setting says — and the setting it ships with is the one to look at first.
| What you are asking | Free | Standard and Max | Enterprise |
|---|---|---|---|
| Trains the vendor's models by default | Yes, on the free plan specifically. Heidi says it strips identifiers first and then trains on what is left, and agreeing to the free plan is agreeing to that.“…use it to develop, train, test and improve our models, products and services, including for research, quality assurance and safety testing.” source, read | No, and Heidi extends it to de-identified derivatives, which is the gap the free plan's clause walks through.“we do not use Content from paid individual plans, or De-identified Information derived from that Content, to train our models.” source, read | Heidi says health information is not used for training. Note that its terms put the full no-training promise on paid individual plans by name, and we found no clause of its own for Enterprise.“We don’t use any of your sensitive health information for model training.” source, read |
| How to turn training off | Not found in the pages we read. | Not found in the pages we read. | Not found in the pages we read. |
| How long data is kept | Anything from a day to forever, and the practice chooses. See the setting below for which end Heidi starts you at.“Heidi offers fully customizable data retention options, allowing users and organizations to set retention periods anywhere between 1 day and…” source, read | Anything from a day to forever, and the practice chooses. See the setting below for which end Heidi starts you at.“Heidi offers fully customizable data retention options, allowing users and organizations to set retention periods anywhere between 1 day and…” source, read | Anything from a day to forever, and the practice chooses. See the setting below for which end Heidi starts you at.“Heidi offers fully customizable data retention options, allowing users and organizations to set retention periods anywhere between 1 day and…” source, read |
| What an admin can see or control | A clinician can change their own retention; an organisation can set it for everybody. Both can, which is the thing to check.“users can easily adjust these settings within their preferences, and organizations can configure them globally.” source, read | A clinician can change their own retention; an organisation can set it for everybody. Both can, which is the thing to check.“users can easily adjust these settings within their preferences, and organizations can configure them globally.” source, read | A clinician can change their own retention; an organisation can set it for everybody. Both can, which is the thing to check.“users can easily adjust these settings within their preferences, and organizations can configure them globally.” source, read |
| Single sign-on | Not found in the pages we read. | Not found in the pages we read. | Single sign-on arrives with the enterprise tier, and Heidi lists it as optional even there.“EHR integration, with optional enterprise-grade governance and SSO” source, read |
| Business Associate Agreement | Not found in the pages we read. | Not found in the pages we read. | Not found in the pages we read. |
| Where the data is processed | Not found in the pages we read. | Not found in the pages we read. | Not found in the pages we read. |
An empty cell is not a reassurance and not a criticism. "Not found in the pages we read." means the Heidi Health pages listed under Sources, read on the dates shown, do not answer it — so there is nothing for us to repeat, and something for you to ask Heidi Health before client information goes near it.
What this means for
The duty does not change because the tool is new. What changes is where the client information ends up.
- Law firms. A client confidence pasted into a personal account has left the firm’s control. Our law firm page sets out the duties we build evidence for; the decision here is whether a personal account may touch a client matter at all.
- Dental and medical practices. We didn't find a BAA statement in the pages listed below; ask Heidi Health before any patient data goes in. See dental practices.
- CPA and accounting firms. Your written information security plan has to describe the tools people actually use, not the ones you approved. See accounting firms.
- Financial advisers. Client account data in a personal assistant is the exposure; see financial advisers.
- Software teams. A coding assistant reads the repository and can run commands, so the question is what it can reach, not what it was asked. See what AI agents on work laptops can reach.
How to tell which version your staff use
The plan is the whole answer, and you cannot tell from the outside. Three ways to find out, in order of how much they prove.
1. Ask
Quick, free, and incomplete. People forget the tool they installed once and the account they signed in with.
2. Look at the billing and the admin console
This finds what the business pays for. It does not find a personal account, which is the one that matters here.
3. Look on the computers
A tool somebody installed themselves never appears in an IT list. Obsidian Ridge’s free 30-day AI security assessment takes a quiet inventory for 30 days and shows what each tool could reach, then a CISSP goes through it with you. See the assessment, or read a sample set of findings.
Settings to check today
From Heidi Health’s own documentation. Each one is a change somebody can make this afternoon.
- Change the retention default before the first appointment. Heidi ships accounts set to keep transcripts forever, on purpose, and says so.“By default, accounts are set to "never delete" to ensure transcripts…” source, read
- Know that deletion is self-service, which also means nobody is doing it for you.“You can delete your Content or your account at any time in your settings…” source, read
- Settle patient consent to recording before you deploy it. Heidi puts that squarely on the practice, including the consent to disclose to Heidi at all.“You are responsible for holding all authorisations and consents required in your jurisdiction to disclose patient information (including Health Information) to Heidi…” source, read
Worth knowing
- No stored audio is a real distinction from most of this category: what exists afterwards is a transcript, not a recording of a patient's voice.“No, Heidi does not store audio recordings of patient consultations.” source, read
- Heidi's terms pull a data processing agreement in automatically. They mention a Business Associate Agreement only as something that may apply — we found no statement that Heidi will sign one, which is the question a HIPAA-covered practice has to ask it directly.“Where you use the Platform to process information about patients, we process that information as your service provider on your instructions…” source, read
- The health-information carve-out sits inside the free plan's training clause, so read it as the limit on that training rather than as a promise about everything else.“We do not use Health Information as an input to train our models;” source, read
Questions we get asked
Is Heidi Scribe safe for client data?
Whether Heidi Scribe is safe for client data turns on which plan your staff are on, which account they signed in with, and what you have told them they may put in it — not on the product itself.
On Free, Heidi Health may use what the appointment recording contains to train its models; on Standard and Max, Heidi Health says it does not train its models on what the appointment recording contains, by default; on Enterprise, Heidi Health says it does not train its models on what the appointment recording contains, by default.
Every fact on this page is Heidi Health's own, quoted from its own pages and dated, and where we did not find a statement this page says so rather than filling the gap.
Does Heidi Health train its models on what we put into Heidi Scribe?
On Free, Heidi Health may use what the appointment recording contains to train its models; on Standard and Max, Heidi Health says it does not train its models on what the appointment recording contains, by default; on Enterprise, Heidi Health says it does not train its models on what the appointment recording contains, by default.
On Free: Yes, on the free plan specifically. Heidi says it strips identifiers first and then trains on what is left, and agreeing to the free plan is agreeing to that.
Heidi Health's own words: "…use it to develop, train, test and improve our models, products and services, including for research, quality assurance and safety testing." (read 2026-11-03).
On Standard and Max: No, and Heidi extends it to de-identified derivatives, which is the gap the free plan's clause walks through.
Heidi Health's own words: "we do not use Content from paid individual plans, or De-identified Information derived from that Content, to train our models." (read 2026-11-03).
On Enterprise: Heidi says health information is not used for training. Note that its terms put the full no-training promise on paid individual plans by name, and we found no clause of its own for Enterprise.
Heidi Health's own words: "We don’t use any of your sensitive health information for model training." (read 2026-11-03).
How long does Heidi Health keep what we put into Heidi Scribe?
On Free, Standard and Max, Enterprise: Anything from a day to forever, and the practice chooses. See the setting below for which end Heidi starts you at.
Heidi Health's own words: "Heidi offers fully customizable data retention options, allowing users and organizations to set retention periods anywhere between 1 day and…" (read 2026-11-03).
Can an administrator read what we put into Heidi Scribe?
On Free, Standard and Max, Enterprise: A clinician can change their own retention; an organisation can set it for everybody. Both can, which is the thing to check.
Heidi Health's own words: "users can easily adjust these settings within their preferences, and organizations can configure them globally." (read 2026-11-03).
Will Heidi Health sign a Business Associate Agreement for Heidi Scribe?
We didn't find a BAA statement in the pages listed below; ask Heidi Health before any patient data goes in.
How do we find out which version of Heidi Scribe our staff are using?
Look on the computers. A tool somebody installed themselves, or signed into with a personal account, does not appear in any IT list. Obsidian Ridge's free 30-day AI security assessment takes that inventory for 30 days and shows what each tool could reach.
Sources
Heidi Health’s own pages, with the date each was read. Nothing on this page comes from anywhere else.
- heidihealth.com/en-us/legal/heidi-scribe-terms-of-use, read
- heidihealth.com/en-au/blog/heidi-compliance-lightning-faqs, read
- heidihealth.com/en-us/pricing, read
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