Where data lives
All laboratory data is stored in a single cloud region. The region is confirmed before the first lab enters data and stated on this page and in the data processing agreement. The database, file storage and the application servers that read and write your records are in that region, and the backup copy of stored files is held by a separate provider. Static website files are served from a global content delivery network and contain no laboratory data.
If your lab needs data held in a particular jurisdiction, write to us before you sign up so we can tell you plainly whether we can meet it.
What is encrypted
- In transit: every connection to the application and between our services uses TLS. Direct database connections require SSL and are restricted to our application servers.
- At rest: the database, file storage (certificates, reports, evidence) and backups are encrypted with AES-256 by the hosting providers.
- Secrets: service keys are held in the hosting platforms' secret stores and a database vault, never in source code.
Fields are not additionally encrypted inside the database. Calibration certificates and quality records are your lab's own records rather than secrets such as passwords, and field encryption would prevent search and sorting without adding protection against the threats that matter here.
Tenant isolation
Every lab's records sit in the same database, separated by a lab identifier on every row. Row-level security policies in the database itself, not only in the application code, restrict every read and write to members of that lab. Files are stored under a per-lab path with the same rule applied.
A hostile-tenant test suite runs on every change: it signs in as a user of one lab and tries to read, insert, update and delete another lab's records and files, as an anonymous user, as a read-only auditor and as a member without delete rights. The release process is designed so that a change which lets any of those through is not released.
Access inside your lab
- Roles: owner, admin, member and auditor. Auditors (your assessor or a consultant) have read-only access and can download the assessor pack; they do not count toward your user limit.
- Sign-in by password (at least 12 characters, checked against known breached passwords) or an emailed link. Two-factor authentication with an authenticator app is available to every user and required for owners of paid labs.
- Every change to every record is written to an append-only audit log: who, when, and the values before and after. The log is designed to be append-only: the application provides no way to edit or delete it.
Files
Uploads are limited to PDF, PNG, JPEG, CSV, XLSX and DOCX, up to 25 MB each. The file's content is checked against its declared type, and a SHA-256 checksum is recorded. Downloads use signed links that expire after 10 minutes and are always delivered as attachments, never rendered inside the application.
Files are not virus-scanned in the first release. Uploads come only from signed-in users of a paying lab and are opened only by that lab and its assessor, and executable file types are refused. If your security review requires scanning, tell us; the record already has a field for it.
Backups and recovery
- Daily database backups, kept for 7 days, plus point-in-time recovery to any moment in the last 7 days.
- File storage copied weekly to a separate storage provider.
- A planned restore drill every quarter: the database is restored to a separate copy and checked, and the result is recorded as part of the software validation evidence.
Your data, your copy
Every list downloads as CSV, and Settings has Export everything, which produces a single archive of every record, every file, the audit log and deleted records. It stays available if you cancel. See Data export.
Data processing agreement
For lab records we act as your processor. Our data processing agreement includes the EU Standard Contractual Clauses (Module 2) and the UK Addendum; the current draft is described at /legal/dpa, and a signed copy is available on request from privacy@accreditbook.com. The services we rely on are listed at /legal/subprocessors.
Reporting a vulnerability
Write to privacy@accreditbook.com with the details. Please give us reasonable time to investigate and fix the issue before any disclosure, and do not access, modify or retain other customers' data. We will not pursue legal action against research that follows these conditions in good faith.
Limits of this page
This page describes the measures we use and intend to use when the Service launches. It is a summary, not a contractual commitment; the commitments that bind us are in the terms of service and the data processing agreement. No system is completely secure, and we review and change these measures as threats and technology change.