civic_techJuly 3, 2026Issue #52

Build without the handoffs — one box, two products, privacy intact

Obsidian Comms is a private communications server that sits on a small box in your building. It handles video calls, voice calls, and encrypted messaging — end-to-end encrypted so the server itself can't read your messages or hear your calls. No cloud, no third-party servers, nothing leaves your network.

It runs on the same box as Obsidian AI. One box, two products. Your institution gets AI-powered tools AND secure communications from a single appliance. The same box that runs your AI screener, your IEP assistant, your document analyzer — also handles your team's private calls and messages.

The pitch targets four groups: schools (FERPA-compliant for staff and IEP meetings), healthcare (HIPAA for care teams), law firms (attorney-client privilege protected — opposing counsel can't subpoena what doesn't exist on a third-party server), and municipal government (data sovereignty for sensitive discussions). Every Zoom call and Google Meet lives on someone else's server; this is the alternative that doesn't cost six figures in on-prem infrastructure.

Why this matters for us: la gente que trabaja en escuelas y clínicas no necesita otro servicio en la nube que puede filtrar nuestros datos — esto queda en la caja, en la oficina.

Opposing counsel can't subpoena what doesn't exist on a third-party server.

builder.io

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#privacy#on_prem#communications#ferpa_hipaa

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