Question 1

Can someone push a file onto my machine without my permission?

Accepted Answer

No. Privatta is pull-only: the recipient always requests a specific file before any bytes move. A sender can offer a file and describe it, but there is no command in the protocol that lets them deliver it unsolicited. This is structural — the same rule on the LAN and over the internet, not a setting that could be turned off.

Question 2

Does Privatta store files on a server?

Accepted Answer

No. Files transfer directly from the sender's machine to the recipient's. There is no central server, no cloud storage and no relay holding your data — the only copy in transit is the encrypted stream between the two devices.

Question 3

What encryption does Privatta use?

Accepted Answer

Every P2P transfer runs over WebRTC's built-in DTLS encryption, negotiated directly between the two machines — the same transport security browsers use for video calls. A lightweight, open-source relay only relays the initial connection handshake; it never sees the file or your credentials, holds one in-memory table of pending pairings and forgets each one the instant its two peers connect, and it's self-hostable, so you can run your own instead of ours. Account passwords are stored only as scrypt hashes.

Question 4

Can it work on a LAN or fully air-gapped network?

Accepted Answer

Yes. On a local network Privatta discovers other machines automatically and transfers directly between them, with no internet required. It runs on a completely air-gapped LAN with no outbound calls, and you can pre-authorise VPN address ranges as trusted. Pro and Enterprise licenses can also be activated entirely offline — see the next question.

Question 5

Can I activate Privatta with no internet connection at all?

Accepted Answer

Yes, on Pro and Enterprise. Generate this machine's fingerprint locally, carry it to any device that does have internet, and download a license file for it. That file is signed and encrypted specifically for your machine and your license key, and verifying it needs no network call at all — the running installation never has to phone home. The file carries its own expiry, so you'll periodically need to repeat the process from an online device to refresh it.

Question 6

How does Privatta pair with the mobile app?

Accepted Answer

Scan a QR code. The desktop app shows a code encoding its address and connection details; open the mobile app, scan it, and you're paired — no account, no typing an address or a key by hand. It's available on every tier.

Question 7

How does Privatta authenticate the machines that connect?

Accepted Answer

It depends on the mode. On the LAN, the connecting machine's MAC address must already be whitelisted, on top of a valid username and password. Over the internet (P2P), the connection is gated by a single-use, 32-character key the host generates and shares out of band — it works once and expires after 5 minutes — and the connecting peer still has to present a valid username and password before any file is listed.

Question 8

Who can access a given file?

Accepted Answer

You choose per file: public (anyone on your LAN), specific users, or whole user groups. Files can also be bundled into virtual folders that share one policy. Over the internet every request is fully authenticated — there is no anonymous access.

Question 9

Is there an audit trail?

Accepted Answer

On the Enterprise tier, yes — and it's immutable. Privatta keeps a local access log of every attempt: the user, machine identity, IP, file, whether it was allowed or denied, and the reason. There is no delete or edit operation for it anywhere in the code, so once an entry is written, nobody — including an administrator — can remove it. Passwords are never written to it. Failed logins are rate-limited and abusive peers are automatically locked out for the session.

Question 10

What platforms does Privatta run on?

Accepted Answer

The desktop app ships for Windows and macOS. An Android companion app lets you discover machines on your network, pair by QR code, and browse and download shared files with the same access rules; an iOS app is in development.

Question 11

Is Privatta suitable for HIPAA- or GDPR-sensitive files?

Accepted Answer

By architecture, yes. Because transfers are end-to-end encrypted and go directly between your machines with no cloud intermediary, there is no third-party data processor and no copy of your files leaving your control. The Enterprise tier adds an immutable local audit trail for compliance review.

Question 12

What's the difference between Free, Pro and Enterprise?

Accepted Answer

Pull-only transfer and QR pairing are on every tier, including Free. Free shares public files on your local network with a daily transfer cap. Pro adds private per-user sharing, machine whitelisting, internet (P2P) transfers, unlimited volume, and offline license activation. Enterprise adds an immutable audit log and user groups pre-modeled on real org structures — legal, finance/compliance, and the like — plus per-group virtual folders for organisation-scale control.

Question 13

Do I have to trust Royal Softworks' relay server?

Accepted Answer

No. The relay only introduces two peers and relays their WebRTC handshake — it never sees a file or a password, and it forgets the connection the instant the peers pair up or either one disconnects. It's open source, so you can audit it or run your own instance and point Privatta at it from Settings instead of the default.

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