Is Google Vertex AI HIPAA Compliant?
The name changed and the coverage list did not follow the old memory. Match your workload to a named product first.
The Verdict: Is Google Vertex AI HIPAA Compliant?
Is Google Vertex AI HIPAA compliant? Yes, with conditions. Google Cloud signs a self-serve BAA covering named products, and "Vertex AI" by that name is not among them. Vertex AI Workbench and the renamed Gemini Enterprise products are covered.
Match your workload to a named covered product before PHI, and disable everything else.
Verified against Google Cloud's HIPAA compliance and BAA covered-products pages, 2026-07-12.
| BAA | Yes, self-serve Cloud BAA; product-enumerated coverage |
| Trains on your data | No (Service Terms training restriction) |
| Enterprise controls | Cloud IAM, SSO, Cloud Audit Logs, VPC Service Controls (itself BAA-covered), configurable retention |
| Sources | cloud.google.com/security/compliance/hipaa (verified twice), /terms/hipaa-baa, /terms/service-terms, Gemini data-governance docs |
This is not legal advice, and your counsel makes the call for your organization.
The Catch
The naming trap. Google reorganized its AI products, and a 2023-era "Vertex AI is HIPAA supported" memory does not match today's enumerated list. Contracts follow the list, not the memory.
If Your Staff Use It
This is a build-side platform; the audience is your engineering team. Their architecture review should quote the covered-products page with a date on it.
Build-side tools fail differently. An analyst prototyping against real extracts, weeks before any architecture review is scheduled, has opened a PHI path that no covered-products list was consulted on. AI running inside an engineering console hides better than a browser tab, because it looks like ordinary work in a place nobody thinks to check.
Google Vertex AI and HIPAA: Common Questions
Does Google sign a BAA covering Vertex AI?
Yes, with conditions. Google Cloud's self-serve BAA covers named products only, and "Vertex AI" by that name is absent from the current list. Vertex AI Workbench is covered. Match the exact product before PHI.
Is this legal advice?
No. This is not legal advice, and your counsel makes the call for your organization.
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