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Security & Compliance

Enterprise-Grade Security You Can Trust

Your clients trust you with their financial data. We take that responsibility seriously. Here is exactly how we protect it.

Certifications & Standards

Our Compliance Programme

GDPR
EU — General Data Protection Regulation
European Clients
POPIA
SA — Protection of Personal Information Act
SA Clients
TLS 1.3
Transport Layer Security
Active
AES-256
Encryption at rest
Active
Data Protection

How We Protect Your Data

Multiple independent layers of protection — from the moment data enters our platform to the moment it leaves.

🔐

Encryption at Rest

All client data stored within the Y-Accounting platform is encrypted using AES-256 — the same standard used by financial institutions and government agencies worldwide. Encryption keys are managed separately from the data they protect, using industry-standard key management systems with automatic rotation.

🔒

Encryption in Transit

All data transferred between your systems and Project Y is protected by TLS 1.3 — the current gold standard for transport encryption. Older, insecure protocol versions (TLS 1.0, 1.1, SSL) are disabled entirely. Certificate pinning is applied to prevent man-in-the-middle attacks.

👤

Access Controls

Access to your firm's data is governed by strict role-based permissions. Each user sees only the data relevant to their role. Multi-factor authentication is required for all accounts. Administrative access to infrastructure requires hardware security keys and is limited to a small, audited set of personnel.

📋

Audit Logging

Every action taken within the platform — by AI Associates, your team members, or Y-Accounting team — is logged with a full audit trail. Logs are immutable, tamper-evident, and retained for a minimum of 24 months. Your firm can access its own audit log at any time through the management dashboard.

🌍

Data Residency

European firms can elect to have all data stored and processed within the European Economic Area (EEA). We operate on AWS infrastructure with primary data centres in Ireland (eu-west-1) and Frankfurt (eu-central-1). Data does not leave your chosen region without explicit consent.

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Data Isolation

Each accounting firm's data is logically isolated from all others. Our multi-tenancy architecture ensures that no firm's data can be accessed by another firm's instance of the platform. Isolation is enforced at both the application and database layer.

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Vulnerability Management

We conduct regular penetration testing with independent third-party security firms. Vulnerability assessments run continuously on all infrastructure components. A responsible disclosure programme is in place and security researchers are encouraged to report findings confidentially.

♻️

Business Continuity

Our infrastructure is designed for high availability with no single points of failure. Automated backups run every 6 hours with 30-day retention. Recovery time objective (RTO) is under 4 hours; recovery point objective (RPO) is under 6 hours. Disaster recovery is tested quarterly.

Data Privacy & Compliance

Your Clients' Data Belongs to Your Clients

Y-Accounting acts as a data processor on behalf of your firm. Your firm retains data ownership and control at all times. We process your clients' data only to deliver the services you've contracted us to provide — never for advertising, model training, or sale to third parties.

South African firms — We operate in full compliance with the Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA). We are registered with the Information Regulator and apply all required safeguards for the processing of personal information on behalf of South African accounting practices. Our POPIA Compliance Framework and operator agreement are available on request.

European firms — Our Data Processing Agreement (DPA) covers all required GDPR obligations for EU-based firms and is compatible with UK GDPR for firms based in the United Kingdom.

Subject access requests, data deletion requests, and data portability are supported for clients under both POPIA and GDPR, handled within the respective statutory timeframes.

✓ Data Ownership

You own your data. Always. We have no right to use your clients' financial data beyond service delivery.

✓ No Training on Your Data

Your firm's data is never used to train AI models that serve other customers. Your workflows remain yours.

✓ Right to Deletion

If you leave Y-Accounting, all your data is deleted within 30 days of contract termination — verifiably and permanently.

✓ Sub-Processor Transparency

We maintain a public sub-processor list. You are notified at least 30 days before any new sub-processor is added.

Responsible AI

AI That Knows What It Doesn't Know

Our AI Associates are built with explicit boundaries — and designed to escalate rather than guess.

🚦

Human-in-the-Loop Review

AI Associates never send client communications without human review and approval. Your team controls what goes out — always.

⚠️

Escalation by Default

When an AI Associate encounters ambiguity, complexity, or an exception it hasn't been trained on, it flags the item for human review — it does not attempt to resolve it alone.

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Bounded Scope

AI Associates operate within strictly defined workflows. They do not have access to systems, data, or actions outside their configured scope. Permissions are explicit and auditable.

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Explainable Actions

Every action taken by an AI Associate is logged with a rationale. Your team can review exactly what was done, why, and when — at any point in time.

Common Questions

Security FAQ

Who can access our firm's data?
Access to your firm's data is restricted to authorised users at your firm, plus a very limited set of Y-Accounting infrastructure personnel who require access for support and maintenance — all of whom are subject to background checks, security training, and contractual confidentiality obligations. All access is logged and auditable.
Is our client data used to train AI models?
No. Your firm's client data is never used to train AI models that serve other firms or that are shared externally. Our AI Associates are trained on general accounting workflows, not on your proprietary client information. Your data is used solely to execute the workflows your firm has configured.
What happens to our data if we cancel?
If you end your engagement with Y-Accounting, all your firm's data — including client information, workflow history, and configuration — is deleted within 30 days. We will provide a deletion certificate upon request. You also have the option to export your data in standard formats before deletion.
Where is data stored?
South African firms have their data stored and processed within South Africa by default, in compliance with POPIA's data localisation requirements. European firms can elect to have all data stored and processed within the European Economic Area (EEA), on AWS infrastructure in Ireland and Frankfurt. No data leaves your chosen region without explicit written consent from your firm's administrator.
How do you handle a data breach?
In the event of a confirmed security incident, we will notify affected firms within 72 hours of discovery — in compliance with GDPR Article 33 for European clients, and within the POPIA-mandated timeframe for South African clients. Notification will include the nature of the incident, data categories affected, likely consequences, and remediation steps already taken. We maintain an incident response playbook that is reviewed and tested quarterly.
Are you SOC 2 certified?
SOC 2 Type II certification is on our roadmap for 2027. In the meantime, we are happy to share our security policies, control documentation, and penetration test results under NDA with any firm that requires them for due diligence or procurement purposes. Contact our security team to request documentation.

Have a Security Question?

Our security team is available to discuss specific requirements, provide additional documentation, or work through your firm's procurement process.

Contact Security Team →
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AI handles the execution. Your team reviews and signs off. Built for accounting firms.

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