Fax security and privacy

Where your document goes, who handles it, and what is worth watching.

A fax sent through Faxturbo makes two journeys. The first, between your browser and our servers, is protected by HTTPS; there the file is converted, used for the transmission and then deleted. The second goes from our gateway to the recipient's machine over the telephone network, which does not encrypt faxes, whichever provider you use. The service is operated by Dim Solution, which is headquartered in France and answers for the personal data it handles. Real-world problems rarely involve wiretaps. They begin with a mistyped digit, a tray that anyone can reach or a copy left on a device.

Weak points, most frequent first

The order follows what goes wrong in practice. Technical interception is at the bottom.

  1. A wrong digit

    Two transposed digits send your document to someone else. The transmission still succeeds, since a machine answered and accepted the pages, and the fax cannot be pulled back.

  2. A shared output tray

    Incoming pages print where passers-by can see them: a front desk, a corridor, a shared copy room. The longer a sheet waits, the more people can read it.

  3. Stray copies

    Multifunction devices may keep documents in memory or on a disk, and some are set to pass faxes on to a shared mailbox. Each extra copy is something else to protect.

  4. The open phone line

    On the final stretch the fax signal is unprotected, whether analogue or carried as T.38 over IP. Capturing it takes access to a carrier's network, which is much less common than the three situations above.

What Faxturbo does with your data

Including the limits that no online fax provider can remove.

HTTPS for the upload
Your file reaches our servers over an encrypted HTTPS connection. The telephone leg that follows cannot be encrypted by us or by anyone else.
Temporary storage and deletion
Your document is converted to PDF only so the fax can be built and sent. Afterwards it is deleted automatically, and we do not reuse it for anything else. Delivery receipts, if you buy them, are the one thing generated for you from the transmission.
No account, little data
There is no registration or password. We use the details in the form, namely your name, your email address, the recipient and the number, to run the transmission and to email you the link and the result. They serve nothing else, and there are no advertising banners.
A confirmation before dialling
Nothing is sent before you open the link in the email we send you and wait out a countdown of roughly 55 seconds. You can cancel at any time within that period, which gives you a last chance to check the number.

Five good habits

  1. Check the number at its source

    Take it from a recent official document rather than an old contact list, choose the country in the form and read the digits aloud against the original before you confirm. Our directory of dialling codes helps with doubts.

  2. Warn the recipient

    A short call or message such as "a fax is on its way" gets someone to the machine in time, and the pages are not left in the tray.

  3. Write a useful cover page

    Faxturbo prints it from the form fields. Name a specific person, add a clear subject and ask in the message to be told if the fax reaches the wrong place. It guides whoever finds the sheet.

  4. Send the minimum

    Before exporting your PDF, remove annexes you do not need and mask what is unnecessary, such as a full bank account number or health details unrelated to the request. A smaller document exposes less if it goes astray.

  5. Keep a record

    The optional PDF receipts (€2.99 including VAT, payable solely on successful delivery of the fax) document the request and then the transmission. If you wonder where a fax ended up, you hold a dated record.

What a fax cannot promise

Encryption from end to end is not a feature of everyday fax. T.30 describes optional security functions, but deployed machines hardly ever offer them. A provider claiming protection all the way to the paper would overstate what the technology permits, and Faxturbo makes no such claim. We also hold no security certification that we could cite here.

A fax also tells you nothing about what happens after printing: who collects the page, who copies or files it. It proves that a machine at a number accepted pages, not that a particular person read them. For highly sensitive content, prefer a secure messaging or document-exchange platform if the other side has one.

Common questions

Can someone intercept my fax?
From your browser to Faxturbo the connection is encrypted with HTTPS. On the telephone line to the recipient there is no encryption, although tapping it requires access to carrier equipment. A mistyped number or a page left on a tray is the likelier problem.
How long is my document stored?
Only while it is needed to prepare and send the fax. It is deleted automatically once the transmission is finished, and we do not keep a copy for anyone to consult.
Who is responsible for my personal data, and how do I exercise my rights?
Dim Solution, a company in France, operates Faxturbo and acts as data controller under the GDPR. To ask for access, correction or erasure of your data, write to contact@faxturbo.com and we will answer. The legal notice and terms give the details.
What if I faxed the wrong number?
If you can reach whoever owns that number, ask them to destroy the pages. Note the time and the content, then inform whoever handles data protection in your organisation. If personal data was involved, you may have duties to document the incident and possibly to report it.

Keep exploring

More pages to help you prepare, send or track a fax.