Can I use Google Hangouts Chat and be HIPAA Compliant?

It was announced today that Google’s Slack competitor, Hangouts Chat, came out of beta.

Hangouts Chat is Google’s take on modern workplace communication and is now available as a core part of G Suite. The natural question then arises, is Google Hangouts Chat HIPAA compliant?

We know the HIPAA industry is vast so we can empathize with just how many people need to use cloud services in this sector.

In previous posts, we’ve covered the following cloud solutions and their capabilities for HIPAA compliance:

• Amazon CloudFront
• Apple iCloud
• Apple iMessage
• Box
• Citrix ShareFile
• Constant Contact
• DocuSign
• Dropbox
• FaceTime
• Google Calendar
• Google Docs
• Google Drive
• Google Forms
• Google Hangouts
• Google Slides
• Google Voice
• GoToMeeting
• Heroku
• Intercom
• MailChimp
• Mandrill
• Office 365
• OneDrive
• PostageApp
• Postmark
• Return Path
• SendGrid
• SharePoint
• Slack
• Sonic
• SparkPost
• WhatsApp
• WordPress
• Yammer
• Zoho
• Zoom

Today, we will determine if Google Hangouts Chat offers HIPAA compliant service or not.

SEE ALSO: HIPAA Breaches and Cloud Providers

About Google Hangouts Chat

Google Hangouts Chat is a messaging platform built for teams. In essence, Hangouts Chat is Google’s competitive rebuttal to Slack and Microsoft Teams.

Google Hangouts Chat and the Business Associate Agreement

We’ve previously talked about how a Business Associate Agreement is a written contract between a Covered Entity and a Business Associate. It is required by law for HIPAA compliance.

We checked Google and found a page called HIPAA Compliance with G Suite.

On that page, Google states:

Google offers a BAA covering Gmail, Google Calendar, Google Drive (including Docs, Sheets, Slides, and Forms), Google Hangouts (chat messaging feature only), Hangouts Meet, Google Keep, Google Cloud Search, Google Sites, Jamboard, and Google Vault services.

Does Google Hangouts Chat Offer HIPAA Compliant Service?

The Business Associate Agreement is a key component to HIPAA compliance between a covered entity and a business associate.

While Google does offer to sign a BAA with covered entities and business associates, it does not cover their entire G Suite product line.

In other words, the Google BAA only includes coverage for certain services in G Suite.

We can see evidence of this on pages 4 & 5 of the HIPAA Compliance with G Suite guide.

Conclusion: Google Hangouts Chat is HIPAA compliant.

While it’s quite confusing (as of today), it should be noted that certain services within Google Hangouts are not HIPAA compliant. Those services are: Video Chat, SMS and VOIP components of Google Hangouts.

SEE ALSO: Is Google Hangouts HIPAA Compliant?