# Glossary

The words Databeamer uses, each explained in a sentence or two, with a link to the page that goes deeper.

Databeamer reuses a few everyday words with a precise meaning. This page lists them by theme. Within each theme the terms are alphabetical.

## Security and keys

### Audit log

A record of what happened in your account, under **Settings › Audit log**. Entries are either signed by your own device or recorded by the server, and are sealed into chained epochs so they cannot be altered afterwards. See [Audit log](https://databeamer.eu/en/docs/account/audit-log).

### Device

A browser or phone on which you have set up Databeamer. Each device holds its own copy of your keys, protected by its own PIN, and can be revoked from another device. See [Devices and unlocking](https://databeamer.eu/en/docs/account/devices-and-unlock).

### Device approval

The way a new device gets your keys without the recovery phrase. The new device shows a code; a device you already use approves it under **Settings › Security › Device approvals**.

### End-to-end encryption

Files, messages and answers are encrypted on the sender's device and decrypted on the recipient's. Everything in between, including Databeamer's servers, only sees ciphertext.

### Epoch

A sealed batch of audit log entries, roughly one per hour. Each epoch links to the previous one, which is what makes the log tamper-evident.

### Identity check

The panel Databeamer shows before you select someone as a recipient: their organisations, groups you share, how long they have been a member, and an **Identity verified by Databeamer** badge if they have one. Databeamer has no safety numbers to compare by hand. See [Contacts](https://databeamer.eu/en/docs/chat/contacts).

### Key rotation

Giving the remaining members a fresh group key after someone is removed, so the person who left cannot read anything added afterwards. Databeamer does this automatically on removal; a **Key rotation required** banner only appears when it could not, and **Rotate now** finishes it. See [Groups](https://databeamer.eu/en/docs/groups/groups).

### Master key

The key everything in your account is ultimately protected with. It is created on your device during setup, never stored in one place, and never sent to Databeamer. See [Recovery phrase and shares](https://databeamer.eu/en/docs/account/recovery-phrase).

### Passkey unlock

Unlocking a device with Touch ID, Face ID, Windows Hello or a security key instead of typing the PIN. Set per device; the PIN keeps working alongside it.

### PIN

The 6-digit code that unlocks Databeamer on one device. Other devices have their own PIN. It protects the keys on that device; it is not your account password.

### Recovery phrase

24 words shown once during setup. Together with the server share they rebuild your master key when you have lost every device. Databeamer cannot replace it for you. See [Recovery phrase and shares](https://databeamer.eu/en/docs/account/recovery-phrase).

### Security alerts

Events that deserve attention, such as a new device approval or a PIN lockout. They appear on the dashboard and, depending on your settings, by email.

### Security details

The collapsed blocks on many pages that list the cryptographic operations behind a feature, written for security officers and auditors. Everyday use never needs them. See [Welcome to Databeamer](https://databeamer.eu/en/docs/getting-started/welcome#security-details).

### Security scan

Databeamer checks encrypted uploads for known threats in a way that keeps the content private. The result is shown under a file's **Details**.

### Shares

The three parts your master key is split into: a device share on each device, a server share held by Databeamer, and your recovery phrase. Any two rebuild the key; one on its own reveals nothing.

### Unlock

Entering your PIN or using your passkey when you open Databeamer, which makes the keys stored on that device usable. **Stay unlocked on reload** asks only once per browser session.

### Zero-knowledge

Databeamer's design principle: the server stores and relays your data without ever being able to read it, because the keys exist only on your devices. See [Welcome to Databeamer](https://databeamer.eu/en/docs/getting-started/welcome).

## People and spaces

### Account

A person who has signed up and set up their keys. Only accounts can be messaged, be readers of a request or be members of a group.

### Contacts

Your personal address book. Adding someone is one-sided; they are not notified. Each contact has private notes that only you can read. See [Contacts](https://databeamer.eu/en/docs/chat/contacts).

### Group

A shared space inside an organisation with its own Drive, chat, transfers and requests, encrypted with a key that every member holds. See [Groups](https://databeamer.eu/en/docs/groups/groups).

### Group type and document type

Classifications with states and labels that an organisation defines. These labels are visible to the server, unlike file contents, so keep them free of sensitive details.

### Guest

Someone without a Databeamer account who opens a transfer, request or secure mail through a link. Guests unlock content with a passphrase or a code by email.

### Guest page

The branded page a guest sees. Its logo, wallpaper and background gradient come from the organisation, and can be overridden per group or per request.

### Organisation

Your company or team inside Databeamer. It owns groups, has its own storage and limits, and decides how guest pages look. See [Organisations](https://databeamer.eu/en/docs/groups/organizations).

### Outside collaborator

A group member who does not belong to the group's organisation. Shown as a badge next to their name.

### Public profile

A setting that lets other Databeamer users find you by name or email. Off by default.

### Roles

What a member may do. In a group: **Owner**, **Admin**, **Member** or **Reader**. In an organisation: **Owner**, **Admin** or **Member**. Owners can do everything, including removing the group or organisation.

### Self-declared labels

Text people add to their own profile. Nobody checks it, so treat it as what they say about themselves.

### Single sign-on (SSO)

Signing in through your organisation's identity provider over OpenID Connect or SAML 2.0. New SSO users wait under **Pending SSO members** until an admin approves them.

## Files

### Drive

Your encrypted file storage, personal or per group. File names are encrypted too, so search runs on your device. See [Upload and organise files](https://databeamer.eu/en/docs/files/upload-and-organise).

### Entry

One dated item in a journal, with headings, lists, checklists and tables, and optional tags.

### Journal

A document made of dated, tagged entries, stored in Drive. In a group every member can write in it. See [Journals](https://databeamer.eu/en/docs/files/journals).

### Save to Databeamer Drive

Copying files you received through a transfer or request into your own Drive, so you keep them after the transfer or request expires.

### Trash

Where files go when you move them out of a folder. They still count towards storage until you choose **Delete forever** or **Empty Trash**. See [Trash and deleting](https://databeamer.eu/en/docs/files/trash).

## Transfers, requests and mail

### Activity

The log on a transfer or request showing who accepted, declined, downloaded, submitted or exported, and when.

### Code by email

The easier way for a guest to unlock: they request a 6-digit code that Databeamer emails to them. Anyone who controls the mailbox can then open the content, so use it when the inbox is trusted.

### Collaborative, individual and open

How a request is fulfilled. Collaborative: one submission completes it for everyone asked. Individual: each person submits separately. Open: anyone with the link can submit, as often as needed.

### Deadline

The date after which a request accepts no new submissions.

### Exchange

The sidebar area that holds **Transfers**, **Requests** and **Secure Mail**: everything you send and receive.

### Expires after

How long a transfer's files are kept, from 1 to 30 days. After that the files are removed; the record and its activity stay.

### Passphrase

A code in the form `XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX` that a guest needs to unlock a transfer or secure mail. Shown once to the sender, meant to be shared over a different channel than email. See [Send a transfer](https://databeamer.eu/en/docs/transfers/send-a-transfer).

### Reader

An account that may read a request's answers besides the requester. Set under **Answers to** when creating the request, or under **People** later.

### Request

A secure form through which you ask people for files or answers. They fill it in through a link, with or without an account, and everything is encrypted for you before it leaves their browser. See [Create a request](https://databeamer.eu/en/docs/requests/create-a-request).

### Retention

How long a request's submissions are kept, from 1 day up to a year, capped by your plan.

### Retract

A sender can withdraw a submission for 24 hours after sending it.

### Secure Mail

An encrypted conversation with a subject, a thread of messages and attachments, with accounts or with guests. See [Secure Mail](https://databeamer.eu/en/docs/transfers/secure-mail).

### Submission

One answer to a request: the uploaded files or filled-in form from one person. See [Manage submissions](https://databeamer.eu/en/docs/requests/manage-submissions).

### Submission URL

The link to a request's form, which you can share yourself as well as through the invitation email.

### To do

The list on your dashboard of transfers to accept and requests to answer.

### Transfer

A one-off delivery of files to one or more people, with or without an account. Its status is **Pending**, **Completed**, **Expired** or **Cancelled**. See [Send a transfer](https://databeamer.eu/en/docs/transfers/send-a-transfer) and [Track and receive transfers](https://databeamer.eu/en/docs/transfers/track-a-transfer).

## Chat

### Chats

On desktop, the floating window with your direct messages; on a phone, the tab the app opens on.

### Direct message

A one-to-one, end-to-end encrypted conversation with another account. See [Chat and direct messages](https://databeamer.eu/en/docs/chat/messaging).

### Group chat

The conversation that belongs to a group. Every member can read it.

### Tag

A word starting with **#** in a chat message or on a journal entry. Click a tag to find everything that carries it.

## Plans

### Boosted limits

Limits that were raised for your account beyond what the plan normally includes.

### Plan

What your account may use: storage, transfers and secure mails per month, active requests, file size, retention and feature access. See [Plans and limits](https://databeamer.eu/en/docs/account/plans-and-limits).

### Seats

The number of members an organisation's plan allows.
