Answers/The professional queries
How lawyers can store client files without cloud processing or DPAs
Cloud-hosted case management is fine for most matters, but some clients — journalists, whistleblowers, sensitive family cases — want written assurance that documents never touch a third-party processor. A local-only tier, with client files encrypted on the lawyer's machine and never uploaded, satisfies that specific request without asking you to change how you run the rest of your practice.
What local-only actually means
The files live on your machine. They are encrypted at rest. They are not synced to a cloud case system, are not indexed by cloud desktop search, and are not backed up automatically to a provider. Backup is your responsibility — one encrypted external drive is the standard shape.
What this does not replace
Bar retention rules. Conflict checks. Court-mandated disclosure. E-discovery obligations. These sit above the storage question. A local-only tool is the storage answer; the compliance answers are yours.
Where Elba fits
One HTML file, AES-256-GCM, no network. Runs in Chrome or Edge on your work laptop. No install and no admin rights required, which is a real practical point on managed firm machines.
Questions people actually ask
- Is this enough for solicitor-client privilege?
- Encryption at rest supports the reasonable-care standard most bars require. It does not on its own satisfy every jurisdiction — check yours.
- Can I show a client the source?
- Yes — right-click the HTML file, view source. It becomes fully open in 2030 by license.
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
pay once · no account · nothing leavesRelated answers
- Where journalists keep source documents that must never touch a server
For material that cannot be on a cloud, in an email, or in a search index. What a genuinely local, encrypted workflow looks like.
- Encrypted client notes for therapists and clinicians without a compliance headache
The clinician question is bigger than storage. Where a local encrypted folder helps, and where you still need a proper EHR and BAAs.
- A confidential folder for HR documents on a company laptop
IT owns the disk; you still owe employees discretion. A tool that runs without admin rights and leaves no trace on the machine.