Why should I check when the vendor says so?

Because 'trust but verify' is the whole point of security. Elba is happy to be checked; the verification is trivial.

What if I see a request?

Read it. Legitimate reasons exist (font from a CDN in some pages), but for a privacy tool, no requests should exist at all.

Answers/The trust queries

How to check for yourself that a program makes no network connections

You don't have to take our word for it. You can verify that Elba (or any browser-based tool) makes zero network requests using the browser's built-in Network tab. And you can verify that a running process opens no sockets using your OS's built-in tools. Both take about a minute.

In the browser (works for Elba and any HTML tool)

Open the Elba HTML file in Chrome or Edge. Press F12 to open DevTools. Click the Network tab. Refresh the page. Perform every action you're curious about — set a passphrase, seal a folder, unseal. The Network tab should stay empty (except for the HTML file itself if you refresh). If it isn't empty, that is a request you did not agree to.

At the OS level

macOS: `lsof -i -P` in Terminal lists open network connections. Run it while the tool is active. Linux: `ss -tunp`. Windows: `netstat -abno` in an elevated PowerShell.

Questions people actually ask

Why should I check when the vendor says so?: Because 'trust but verify' is the whole point of security. Elba is happy to be checked; the verification is trivial.
What if I see a request?: Read it. Legitimate reasons exist (font from a CDN in some pages), but for a privacy tool, no requests should exist at all.

Take the island

Elba is one HTML file. It runs locally in a Chromium browser, seals a folder with AES-256-GCM, never phones home, and becomes open source on 1 January 2030.

€49MMXXVI· now ·
€39MMXXVII2027
€29MMXXVIII2028
€19MMXXIX2029
FreeMMXXX2030

the price falls each year · free to all 1 jan 2030

Take the island — €49

pay once · no account · nothing leaves