Is fax secure?

Where traditional fax machines fall short

The phone call that carries a fax is hard to intercept casually, but the paper on either side is not. Most real-world fax leaks are physical or human, not technical.

• Printed faxes sit in a shared output tray where anyone walking past can read or take them.
• A single wrong digit sends a document to a stranger, and you usually cannot recall it.
• Many machines store recent pages in memory, which can be printed again or left on a device when it is discarded.
• There is rarely a record of who picked up or copied a received fax.

Habits that keep a fax secure

Technology covers part of the risk. These steps cover the rest, and they apply whether you use a machine or a browser.

1. Confirm the recipient's fax number from a trusted source, such as their official letterhead or a phone call, not an old email signature.
2. Use a cover page with the recipient's name and a confidentiality notice so a misdirected fax is easier to handle.
3. Send only the pages the recipient needs. Remove unrelated records before you attach the file.
4. Check each number on the confirmation screen before sending. FaxToFax asks you to confirm every recipient number first.
5. Keep the delivery receipt, and delete or purge old documents you no longer need using retention controls.