Your Encryption Key & Recovery Code
Paideias uses end-to-end encryption: your documents are locked on your own device before they are uploaded, and the key that unlocks them never leaves your device. This page explains the three things that can unlock your data — your passphrase, your recovery code, and optional passkeys — and walks through the real setup screen so you know exactly what to expect.
Watch it happen: the real setup screen
This is an interactive recreation of the actual sign-up flow — every screen below is a real screenshot, not a mockup. Click through it yourself, or let it play.
Why can't Paideias just reset my passphrase?
With most apps, "Forgot password?" works because the company can see your data — they just check who you are and let you back in. Paideias is deliberately built the other way round:
- When you set your passphrase, your browser turns it into an encryption key using PBKDF2 with 200,000 iterations (a deliberately slow process that makes guessing attacks impractical).
- That key encrypts your documents with AES-256-GCM — the same class of encryption used for government and banking systems — before anything is uploaded.
- Our servers only ever store the locked result (ciphertext). To us, your transcripts are indistinguishable from random noise.
This is why a data breach on our side cannot expose your participants' interviews — and it is also why nobody, including us, can open your projects without your key. The security and the responsibility come as a pair.
The three ways to unlock your data
| Method | What it is | When you use it |
|---|---|---|
| Passphrase | The secret you type at setup. Turned into your encryption key locally — never sent to our servers. | Every time you sign in on a new device or session. |
| Recovery code | A one-time backup key, shown once during setup. It can unlock your account even if you forget your passphrase. | Only when you've forgotten your passphrase and need to set a new one. |
| Passkey (Face ID / Touch ID) | An optional per-device unlock using your device's secure hardware (WebAuthn). Convenient, but tied to that one device. | Day-to-day unlocking on a device where you've enrolled it. |
Where to actually save the code
Where not to keep it: a screenshot that only lives on the same laptop (if the laptop dies, the code dies with it), a sticky note on your monitor in a shared office, or a plain-text file called passwords.txt.
"I forgot my passphrase" — the recovery flow
As long as you have your recovery code, forgetting your passphrase is a five-minute inconvenience, not a disaster:
On the unlock screen, choose "Use recovery code"
You'll be asked to paste the recovery code you saved at setup.
Set a new passphrase
Pick a new passphrase (same advice as before — long and memorable).
Everything re-locks under the new passphrase
Your projects, documents and codes are untouched — only the "lock on the door" changes. Your old passphrase stops working everywhere.
What happens in each scenario
| Situation | Outcome |
|---|---|
| Forgot passphrase, have recovery code | ✅ Full recovery — set a new passphrase in minutes, nothing lost. |
| Changed passphrase deliberately | ✅ Seamless — Paideias re-wraps your key material; your documents don't need re-uploading or re-encrypting. |
| Lost passkey device (still know passphrase) | ✅ Fine — sign in with your passphrase on any device; enroll a new passkey there. |
| Lost passphrase and recovery code | ❌ Encrypted projects are permanently unreadable. Your account and subscription still exist, but no one can decrypt the data. |
Teams: how sharing works without sharing keys
When you invite a collaborator to a project, Paideias does not send them your passphrase or your key. Instead, each project has its own project key, and that key is individually wrapped (encrypted) to each collaborator's own public key. In practice this means:
- Every team member unlocks the shared project with their own passphrase.
- One person losing their passphrase doesn't lock anyone else out of the shared project — each member holds their own sealed copy of the project key.
- Removing a collaborator removes their wrapped copy of the key.
Frequently asked questions
Can Paideias read my documents to run the AI coding?
AI coding sends the decrypted text of the document you're actively coding from your browser to the AI model at coding time — that's what lets the model read the transcript. It is not stored on our servers in plaintext; storage is always ciphertext. If a document is too sensitive for any third-party model, code it manually instead.
Is a passkey enough on its own? Can I skip the recovery code?
No. A passkey lives in one device's secure hardware. If that device is lost, broken, or wiped, the passkey is gone with it. The recovery code is the only unlock method that survives losing every device you own. Save it.
I wrote the code down but I'm not sure it's right. Can I check?
The safest test: sign out, then unlock using "Use recovery code" with what you saved (you'll be asked to set a new passphrase — you can set the same one again). If it works, your copy is good.
Does changing my passphrase re-encrypt everything?
No — and that's by design. Your documents are encrypted with internal keys that never change; the passphrase only locks those keys. Changing it just swaps the outer lock, which takes seconds even for huge projects.