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Are Thunderbird Email services HIPPA compliant?

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  • 1 has this problem
  • 14 views
  • Last reply by Zenos

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I am looking to set up emails for a pediatric office and I was told that the service you provide is a good secure service. I am wondering if your email service, through Thunderbird, is HIPPA compliant, on a secure portal or server that cannot be hacked and has protective features so that patient information cannot be accessed.

I am looking to set up emails for a pediatric office and I was told that the service you provide is a good secure service. I am wondering if your email service, through Thunderbird, is HIPPA compliant, on a secure portal or server that cannot be hacked and has protective features so that patient information cannot be accessed.

All Replies (4)

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I think you misunderstand what Thunderbird is. It's an email client or MUA. It is not a "service", nor is it an MTA.

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strosepeds said

I am looking to set up emails for a pediatric office and I was told that the service you provide is a good secure service. I am wondering if your email service, through Thunderbird, is HIPPA compliant, on a secure portal or server that cannot be hacked and has protective features so that patient information cannot be accessed.

Zenos could you please reply in more detail what the difference is between an MTA and an MUA. I understand that one is transfer and the other is user but what exactly does that mean?

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Zenos said

I think you misunderstand what Thunderbird is. It's an email client or MUA. It is not a "service", nor is it an MTA.

Zenos said

I think you misunderstand what Thunderbird is. It's an email client or MUA. It is not a "service", nor is it an MTA.

Zenos could you please reply in more detail what the difference is between an MTA and an MUA. I understand that one is transfer and the other is user but what exactly does that mean?

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Thunderbird is an email client. Software that runs on a user's computer. "MUA" mean Mail User Agent and is a generalised term for software that a computer user employs to work with email. "MTA" is a Mail Transfer Agent and refers to the technology need to relay email messages from one user's MUA to another user's MUA. If you ask about "service" and "server" then you're alluding to MTA. And Thunderbird is not an MTA, but an MUA.

You're asking about a portal or server and you mention "service". There is no mail "service" available from Thunderbird or Mozilla. No servers. No mail accounts.

IANAL - and I can't find any mention of "email" here, so it's not immediately obvious to me what requirements an email client must comply with.