Wispr Flow and HIPAA: what the BAA covers and what you still have to set
By Ryleigh Newman · Published
Wispr Flow lets you sign a Business Associate Agreement, the BAA that HIPAA asks for, on any plan, including Free. Signing it locks two privacy settings off and turns off Notetaker and Scratchpad. Your dictation is still transcribed on Wispr's servers, because that is how the app works.
I make YapToText, a different dictation app, and I am not a lawyer or a compliance officer. This page reports what Wispr's help center and privacy page say, read on October 9, 2026. Your organization decides what is compliant for you.
This app is completely free. You don't have to make an account. There are no subscriptions, no difficult downloads, and nothing is locked. Made for Apple silicon Macs. Source on GitHub.
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On this page: 6 sections
What Wispr offers
- A BAA on every plan. The privacy page says you can sign a Business Associate Agreement to enable HIPAA support for dictation on any plan.
- Where you sign. Individuals sign on Mac, Windows or iPhone, under Settings, Data and Privacy. Android has no signing or revocation flow.
- Teams. Growth and Enterprise include a standard HIPAA BAA, signed by an admin in the admin portal. Members of an organization with active billing cannot sign a personal one.
- Enterprise. Admins can enforce HIPAA across the organization.
The agreement covers dictation. Accepting it turns off Notetaker and Scratchpad.
The two settings that must be off
The help center says to confirm both of these are off before you dictate protected health information.
From Wispr Flow's help center, read October 9, 2026.
| Setting | For health information | What it controls |
|---|---|---|
| Improve the model for everyone | Off | Whether dictation and Notetaker content may be used to improve Wispr's models. It is on by default for Free and Pro. |
| Dictation cloud storage | Off | Whether dictation transcripts, audio and history are stored on Wispr's servers for your other devices. |
A signed BAA locks both controls off. Turning either one off does not erase history that was already stored.
The fine print Wispr itself points out
- Support feedback is not covered. The help center warns you not to include health information in support feedback. It says typed feedback is not stripped by these settings or by a BAA, and that diagnostic logs may be attached.
- The signed PDF is a record. The downloadable copy adds a signature record with your name, email and the time. Wispr calls it a reference record, not a legal certificate or a countersignature.
- Local history has its own setting. On Mac and Windows, Local data storage offers Store, Auto-delete every 24hrs and Never store. Choosing auto-delete or never-store deletes existing transcripts across all devices.
- Where the data is. The security overview says Wispr Flow is a cloud service that processes and stores customer data in the United States.
Dictation that never leaves the Mac
There is a second way to think about this. If the speech never leaves your computer, there is no outside company in the dictation step to sign an agreement with.
YapToText works that way. Its speech model and its cleanup model both run on your Mac, there is no account, and I receive nothing you say. The App Store build dictates with Wi-Fi off.
That does not make a setup compliant by itself, and I will not claim it does. The Mac, the record system you type into, the History the app keeps on your disk and your organization's own policies all still matter. In YapToText, Settings, Advanced, History & audio has Save dictation history, which you can turn off, and Clear history when I quit.
This app is completely free. You don't have to make an account. There are no subscriptions, no difficult downloads, and nothing is locked. Made for Apple silicon Macs. Source on GitHub.
The guide to medical dictation on a Mac goes through the settings I would look at first, and the private dictation guide compares where each app sends your voice.
The short version
- Yes, there is a BAA. Wispr Flow offers one on any plan, signed in the app or the admin portal.
- Two settings. Model improvement and Dictation cloud storage both have to be off, and a signed BAA locks them.
- What it costs you. Notetaker and Scratchpad are turned off, and support feedback is not covered.
- The other route. An app that transcribes on the Mac sends no speech to anyone.
If your compliance team reads this differently, trust them over me. If a fact about Wispr Flow here is out of date, open an issue on GitHub. Every one gets read.
This app is completely free. You don't have to make an account. There are no subscriptions, no difficult downloads, and nothing is locked. Made for Apple silicon Macs. Source on GitHub.
Related
Sources
- https://docs.wisprflow.ai/articles/4218718535-hipaa-compliance-healthcare-use (checked 2026-10-09)
- https://docs.wisprflow.ai/articles/9642648659-how-to-revoke-a-hipaa-baa-agreement (checked 2026-10-09)
- https://docs.wisprflow.ai/articles/3467817258-security-and-compliance-faq (checked 2026-10-09)
- https://wisprflow.ai/privacy (checked 2026-10-09)
- https://docs.wisprflow.ai/articles/9559327591-flow-plans-and-what-s-included (checked 2026-10-09)
- https://github.com/ryleighnewman/YapToText (checked 2026-10-09)
- https://apps.apple.com/us/app/yaptotext/id6786382289 (checked 2026-10-09)
Questions
Is Wispr Flow HIPAA compliant?
Wispr says it supports HIPAA for dictation once you sign its Business Associate Agreement, which is available on any plan. Whether your use is compliant depends on your settings and your organization.
Does Wispr Flow sign a BAA?
Yes. Individuals accept it in the app on Mac, Windows or iPhone, and Growth and Enterprise organizations sign it in the admin portal.
Does the BAA cover Wispr Flow Notetaker?
No. Wispr's privacy page says accepting a BAA turns off Notetaker and Scratchpad.
Is Wispr Flow's free plan covered by HIPAA?
The privacy page says you can sign the BAA on any plan, and the help center describes Free as including HIPAA-ready handling.
Is YapToText HIPAA compliant?
I do not make that claim. YapToText transcribes on your Mac and sends me nothing, so there is no outside processor in the dictation step. Your organization decides whether the full setup meets its rules.