> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://usdr.gitbook.io/elections/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://usdr.gitbook.io/elections/for-it-departments/security.md).

# Security

US Digital Response considers security and data privacy as core functions of our elections platform, and any successful election.

We follow USDR’s [security protocol](https://policies.usdigitalresponse.org/volunteer-security-protocol#2.-overview-u.s.-digital-response-security-protocol), and industry best practices, to help protect your data and people.

### Where your data is stored

All the data in our system is hosted on Airtable. Airtable has a[ comprehensive security webpage](https://www.airtable.com/security) that outlines the various standards, certifications, and policies they have to make sure your data is secure.

Airtable's data centers are located in the US, in data centers that are SOC 1, SOC 2 and ISO 27001 certified.

### Storing personal information

We consider our platform security to be robust, but that does not mean it's safe to certain kinds of information that would expose USDR, our volunteers, and our partners to legal and reputational risk that outweighs the convenience of storing that information. **The following information should never be stored in any of our systems:**

* Social security numbers
* Internet Protocol address
* Driver’s license number
* Passport number
* Credit card numbers, bank account numbers, or anything covered by PCI
* Health information, anything covered by HIPPA
* Sensitive personal information
* Photos of a driver’s license or passport

### What we do at USDR to improve security

Beyond choosing a secure place to store our partner’s data, we add additional layers of security in our elections platform.

* [**Authentication**](/elections/for-it-departments/authentication.md) — We provide multi-factor authentication for all users.
* **Separation of partner data** — Partners have their own workspaces within Airtable, and cannot access data beyond that space. Partner workspaces are segmented from other partners within Airtable and each workspace has its own, unique access list. Each partner has separate workspaces for production and development/testing.
* **Access control for staff and volunteers** — USDR staff and volunteers are not given access directly to the administrative functions of Airtable. Access to partner’s bases are continually logged, monitored, and audited. Administrative functions require separate, unique admin accounts for each administrator in addition to their developer accounts. Partners are not charged for these accounts.
* **Transparency & auditing** — Partners can at any time see who has access to their workspaces. They can request at any time an audit log of all activity in a specific space or workspace.

### Service providers

Below is a list of all our service providers, an outline of what data they process, and links to their security policies:

* **Airtable** — Where all of our partner's data is stored and processed. [Airtable's security policy](https://www.airtable.com/security).
* **Postmark** — Used to send emails. Data is not retained in Postmark, but it does send emails that may include data from your poll worker system. [Postmark's security policy](https://postmarkapp.com/security).
* **Twilio** — For sending text (SMS) messages. Data is not retained in Twilio after a text message has been sent. [Twilio's security policy](https://www.twilio.com/en-us/security).
* **Fillout** — For creating forms that store data in partner airtable bases. We use a security feature that ensures all data is only stored in the connected airtable base. [Fillout's security policy.](https://www.fillout.com/help/security) 
* **Sentry** — For error reporting in our custom Airtable extensions and our backend services. The error logging does not contain any PII or poll worker data. [Sentry's security policy](https://sentry.io/security/?).
* **Heroku** — Where we host our custom integrations between our products on Airtable and other systems. Certain pieces of data pass through Heroku for processing or sending on to other services, but none of that data is retained. [Heroku's security policy](https://www.heroku.com/policy/security).