TL;DR
In regulated sectors like healthcare, finance, legal, and government—connectivity is a compliance issue, not just a convenience. Backup internet with IP-preserving failover ensures your systems remain available, secure, and audit-ready—even when your primary ISP goes down.
Uptime Isn’t a Nice-to-Have—It’s a Requirement
For many industries, being offline isn’t just bad business—it’s a breach of trust, service-level agreements, or legal obligations.
Common examples:
- Healthcare (PIPEDA, HIPAA): Must maintain patient access and secure record retrieval
- Finance (OSFI, PCI DSS): Requires consistent uptime for customer access, transaction continuity, and data protection
- Legal/Professional Services: Deadlines, VoIP reliability, and data availability are all tied to professional liability
- Public Sector (SOC 2, DR requirements): Services must remain available to citizens, even during incidents
What Compliance Frameworks Actually Say
PIPEDA (Canada) / HIPAA (U.S.)
- Must implement “physical safeguards” and “availability protections” for electronic health records
- Failover and data continuity are specifically mentioned in HIPAA’s Security Rule
PCI DSS
- Requires redundancy for any system affecting cardholder data or payment authorization
SOC 2
- Trust Services Criteria explicitly assess Availability and System Operations under continuous performance obligations
TL;DR: If you lose access to critical data or systems, you may be non-compliant—even if it’s your ISP’s fault.
Why Backup Internet Is a Compliance Tool
Backup internet—specifically tunneled, IP-preserving failover—helps regulated organizations:
- Maintain uptime metrics during audits
- Avoid breaches of obligation (e.g., service level contracts or consent-based data access)
- Keep VoIP, cloud apps, and portals functioning mid-outage
- Prevent data session resets that could cause record syncing issues
Features That Support Compliance
Fidalia’s backup internet solutions include:
| Feature | Compliance Benefit |
|---|---|
| Static-IP failover | No session loss, seamless continuity |
| LTE/DSL/cable backup options | Path diversity, resilience planning |
| Real-time monitoring | Supports SOC 2 and internal auditability |
| Encrypted failover tunnels | Supports HIPAA and PCI DSS encryption standards |
| Canadian-based support | PIPEDA and data residency confidence |
Real-World Examples
- Healthcare clinic: Maintains EMR uptime and patient access during ISP outages
- Legal firm: Avoids lost discovery time, missed deadlines, and broken phone calls
- Retail pharmacy: Keeps insurance claim processing live even when broadband goes down
“Our compliance team used to panic at every outage. Now we just keep working.”
— Operations Director, Ontario Healthcare Group
Compliance Doesn’t Pause During an Outage
Whether it’s a patient record, a secure transaction, or a legal filing—your systems need to stay up and available.
With Fidalia’s SmartSwitch™ and UltraSwitch™ backup solutions, you gain:
- Managed failover
- IP continuity
- SLA-backed uptime protection
- Peace of mind for your compliance officer
Want Compliance-Ready Continuity?
Talk to Fidalia about a backup internet solution that meets your industry’s obligations—without adding complexity.
Book your compliance continuity assessment.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is backup internet required for HIPAA or PIPEDA compliance?
Not explicitly – but data continuity and availability are required. Backup internet is a best-practice safeguard.
What’s the difference between a consumer backup plan and OnePort™?
OnePort™ backup internet service preserves your IP address, secures the failover tunnel, and supports regulatory readiness. Most consumer failover products break applications and sessions. OnePort™ is a managed service, not a standalone product.