Is Trello HIPAA Compliant? Why Trello Cannot Be Used for PHI
Trello is NOT HIPAA compliant and cannot be used to manage, store, or track protected health information. Atlassian (Trello's parent company) does not sign BAAs for Trello, and the platform lacks the access controls, audit logging, and encryption guarantees required by HIPAA. Healthcare organizations must use alternative project management tools for any workflows involving PHI.
Trello is NOT HIPAA compliant. Atlassian does not offer a BAA for Trello, and the platform is not designed for handling protected health information. Do not use Trello for patient tracking, care coordination, or any workflow involving PHI.
Compliance Assessment
Trello encrypts data in transit (TLS) and at rest, but lacks the granular encryption controls (field-level, customer-managed keys) expected for PHI.
Atlassian does not offer a BAA for Trello on any plan tier. This alone makes Trello non-compliant for HIPAA.
Trello offers board-level permissions and team management, but lacks the granular RBAC, session controls, and IP restrictions needed for HIPAA.
Trello does not provide the comprehensive audit logging required by the HIPAA Security Rule for tracking access to PHI.
No DLP capabilities to detect or prevent PHI from being added to boards, cards, or comments.
Trello does not offer data residency controls or guarantees about where data is stored and processed.
File attachments on Trello cards lack the encryption and access controls needed for PHI documents.
Trello Power-Ups (integrations) introduce additional compliance risks and none are covered under any HIPAA agreement.
No configurable retention policies or guaranteed secure data disposal procedures for PHI.
No HIPAA-specific breach notification or incident response procedures.
Business Associate Agreement (BAA)
Atlassian does not offer a Business Associate Agreement for Trello on any plan including Free, Standard, Premium, or Enterprise. Atlassian's documentation explicitly states that Trello is not designed for HIPAA compliance. Note: Atlassian does offer BAAs for some other products (e.g., Jira and Confluence Cloud Enterprise with the HIPAA add-on), but Trello is excluded.
Why Trello Cannot Be Made Compliant
Do not use Trello for any workflow involving PHI — no configuration can make it HIPAA compliant.
Audit existing Trello boards to ensure no PHI has been inadvertently stored on cards, attachments, or comments.
Migrate PHI-related project management workflows to a HIPAA-compliant alternative.
Train staff that Trello cannot be used for patient tracking, care coordination, or any health data management.
Consider Jira Cloud Enterprise with Atlassian's HIPAA add-on as an Atlassian alternative for project management with PHI.
Limitations
- No BAA available — Atlassian explicitly excludes Trello from HIPAA compliance.
- No audit logging capabilities for tracking PHI access.
- No DLP or data classification features.
- Board-level permissions are insufficient for HIPAA's minimum necessary access requirements.
- No data residency controls or guaranteed secure disposal.
Alternative Tools & Related Assessments
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Trello HIPAA compliant?
No. Trello is not HIPAA compliant. Atlassian does not offer a BAA for Trello and the platform lacks the audit logging, access controls, and DLP features required by HIPAA.
Does Trello offer a BAA?
No. Atlassian does not sign BAAs for Trello on any plan. Note that Atlassian does offer HIPAA compliance for Jira and Confluence Cloud Enterprise with a separate add-on, but Trello is excluded.
Can I use Trello for patient tracking?
No. Using Trello to track patient information, appointments, treatments, or any protected health information is a HIPAA violation because no BAA is available.
What project management tool is HIPAA compliant?
Jira Cloud Enterprise (with Atlassian HIPAA add-on), Microsoft Planner (via M365 BAA), and Asana Enterprise (with BAA) are HIPAA-compliant project management alternatives.
Is Jira HIPAA compliant?
Jira Cloud Enterprise can be HIPAA compliant with Atlassian's HIPAA add-on and a signed BAA. Standard Jira plans and Jira Free are not HIPAA compliant.
Can I use Trello for non-PHI healthcare tasks?
Trello can be used for healthcare tasks that do not involve PHI — such as administrative project tracking, marketing campaigns, or facility maintenance. Ensure no patient data ever appears on Trello boards.
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