# Roll Databeamer out to your users

Personal accounts, explaining the PIN and recovery phrase, onboarding and offboarding, clear agreements and an introduction that sticks.

**The situation.** The organisation is set up. Now your colleagues have to start working with it, and securely. A technical setup does not make a rollout succeed by itself: users need to know why, when and how they use Databeamer, and what they themselves must do to keep their account safe.

**What you will use.** [Create your account](https://databeamer.eu/en/docs/getting-started/create-your-account), [Recovery phrase and shares](https://databeamer.eu/en/docs/account/recovery-phrase), [Devices and unlocking](https://databeamer.eu/en/docs/account/devices-and-unlock), and the guides [Onboard a new colleague](https://databeamer.eu/en/docs/groups/onboard-a-new-colleague) and [Offboard someone who left](https://databeamer.eu/en/docs/groups/offboard-someone-who-left).

## 1. Agree on the rules before the introduction

Users need to know **why** you use Databeamer, **when** they should use it, **how** to work with it, **which information** belongs in it and **which rules** apply. Keep those rules short and concrete, for example:

> "Confidential documents we share with external parties go through Databeamer."

> "Documents containing personal data are not sent by ordinary email."

The exact rule differs per organisation. What matters is that staff know which problem Databeamer solves for them and when to reach for it.

## 2. Personal accounts only

Accounts are not shared. Every user has their own account. That is needed for security, and also for **traceability**: if several people use one account, nobody can tell afterwards who did what, and the [audit log](https://databeamer.eu/en/docs/account/audit-log) and any incident investigation are worth less. This matters most where privacy-sensitive or confidential information is processed.

> **Security details**
> Every action a user takes is recorded with an audit entry that the user's device signs with their own key. A shared account makes that signature meaningless: it then only proves that someone with the account did something. See [Audit log](https://databeamer.eu/en/docs/account/audit-log).

## 3. Explain the security settings

Guide new users through creating their account and explain, in plain words:

- what the PIN does and why it is not shared;
- why each device or browser is set up separately, with its own PIN;
- how to give yourself access on a second device, with [approval from another device](https://databeamer.eu/en/docs/account/set-up-a-second-device);
- what the recovery phrase is and how to store it;
- how to recover when a device is lost, see [I lost my phone](https://databeamer.eu/en/docs/account/lost-my-phone);
- which security settings apply to them.

Make clear that security is not only a technical matter: **the user is part of the security**.

## 4. Store the recovery phrase well, and agree what happens without it

The recovery phrase is the heart of an account's security. Because everything is readable only on the user's device, Databeamer does not hold the keys and cannot recover an account on a user's behalf. As long as someone is still signed in on one device, another device can be approved from it. Once someone is signed out everywhere, the recovery phrase is the only way back.

If a staff member has lost the phrase and is signed out everywhere, the account cannot be recovered the normal way. The organisation administrator can then decide to ask Databeamer to **reset** the account. A reset is performed by Databeamer only and is drastic: the user's personal keys are removed, and with them access to the personal account, their own Drive and their memberships. The consequences are assessed beforehand; if the user is the only owner of an organisation or group, for example, that has to be resolved first. After a reset, administrators can add the user to organisations and groups again, after which the information in those groups becomes accessible once more. The user-facing steps are in [I have no device and no recovery phrase](https://databeamer.eu/en/docs/account/no-device-no-phrase).

So agree: **store the recovery phrase carefully, in a safe place outside Databeamer, and never share it.** A password manager or a printed copy in a safe, or both.

> **Security details**
> A reset removes the user's key material on the server side, after which the user goes through setup again with a new master key and new key pairs. Old personal files can no longer be decrypted; group content can, once an administrator wraps the group keys to the user's new keys. See [Recovery phrase and shares](https://databeamer.eu/en/docs/account/recovery-phrase).

## 5. Make Databeamer part of onboarding and offboarding

Because Databeamer works with seats, and because former staff must not keep access to confidential information, user management belongs in the organisation's onboarding and offboarding process. That way Databeamer is not forgotten when someone joins, changes role or leaves.

Databeamer works with personal accounts. When someone leaves, the point is not the account itself but **detaching** the person from the organisation and its groups. Mind ownership: an organisation and a group always have at least one owner. If the departing person is the only owner, appoint another one first.

A sound offboarding order:

1. Check which organisations and groups the person owns, administers or belongs to.
2. Appoint another owner where needed.
3. Remove the person from the groups. The key rotates automatically; choose **Rotate now** only if a banner says a rotation is still required.
4. Detach the person from the organisation.
5. Check whether a seat has been freed.

The guide [Offboard someone who left](https://databeamer.eu/en/docs/groups/offboard-someone-who-left) walks through this step by step. Also review periodically whether every user still needs access and whether roles and memberships still fit.

## 6. Guide the introduction

First experiences decide whether people will really use Databeamer. A good introduction need not be complicated. Explain above all what Databeamer is, why you use it, how it fits existing work, how to share and receive files securely, how requests and forms work, how the protection works in broad strokes, what users do themselves to keep their account safe, and where to go with questions.

Do not explain everything at once. **Start with what people need daily.** Once that is familiar, introduce Secure Mail, forms, the audit log and the rest. Practise sharing and receiving files during the session itself.

## 7. Make secure use part of the work

Adoption does not come from a good introduction alone. Watch for signals from the organisation:

- people keep sending large or confidential files by email;
- far more groups are created than needed;
- outside collaborators get too much access;
- nobody knows when a request is the right choice;
- people do not understand their PIN or recovery phrase;
- groups live on after the process has ended.

Use those signals to adjust the setup or the guidance. Look not only at whether the features work, but at whether they are used the right way.

## Next

[Manage and review the environment](https://databeamer.eu/en/docs/administrators/manage-and-review): the periodic check, data subject rights and the checklist.