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GoRefer Trust Center

Data Protection

Updated April 2026

GoRefer applies multiple layers of data protection, with particular emphasis on sensitive PII fields used in tax workflows. This page details our field-level encryption, key management practices, and data minimization controls.

AES-256
Field-Level Encryption
TLS 1.3

Encryption at Rest

AES-256

Updated April 2026

Database Encryption

  • MongoDB Atlas Encryption at Rest

    AES-256 encryption for all data at the storage layer via MongoDB Atlas encrypted storage engine

  • Volume encryption

    AWS EBS volumes on application servers are encrypted with AES-256

  • Backup encryption

    All automated backups inherit the same encryption configuration

Field-Level Protection

  • Additional encryption on sensitive fields

    PII fields are encrypted individually at the application layer, before being written to the database

  • Defense-in-depth

    Two independent layers of encryption: storage-level and field-level. Both must be compromised for data to be readable

  • Keys isolated from data

    Encryption keys are never stored alongside the data they protect

What We Encrypt

Updated April 2026

The following sensitive data types receive field-level encryption on top of the storage-layer encryption. Even if database storage were ever compromised, these fields remain unreadable without the separate encryption key.

Sensitive DataProtection MethodWho Can Access
Social Security Number (SSN)
AES-256 (field-level)
Firm admin, system processing only
Employer Identification Number (EIN)
AES-256 (field-level)
Firm admin, system processing only
Bank Account Number
AES-256 (field-level)
Firm admin only
Bank Routing Number
AES-256 (field-level)
Firm admin only
Driver License Number
AES-256 (field-level)
Firm admin only
Payment Card
Tokenized by Stripe — never stored on GoRefer servers
System only (via Stripe)

API responses never return raw PII

The GoRefer API always masks or omits sensitive fields in responses. SSN is displayed as '***-**-XXXX'. Bank account shown as last 4 digits only. This applies regardless of the caller's role.

Key Management

Updated April 2026

Key Storage & Rotation

  • Encryption keys are stored separately from the data they protect

  • Keys managed via AWS Secrets Manager in production

  • Separate keys per environment — development keys never touch production data

  • Keys can be rotated without service downtime

  • After a key rotation, all existing encrypted data is automatically re-encrypted

Who Can Access Keys

  • Keys are accessible only to the application at runtime

  • No individual engineer has unilateral access to production encryption keys

  • Key access events are logged via AWS CloudTrail

  • Multi-party authorization required to view or rotate production keys

Data Minimization & Pseudonymization

Updated April 2026

Data Minimization

  • Only fields required for the tax workflow are collected

  • Optional PII fields (DL number) collected only when explicitly provided

  • Analytics data aggregated and stripped of direct identifiers

  • AI model inputs anonymized before external API calls where possible

  • Export and reporting features output only the minimum required fields

Pseudonymization Practices

  • Internal analytics use pseudonymous user IDs, not email or name

  • Error tracking (Sentry) configured to scrub PII from stack traces

  • Log files sanitized to remove sensitive field values

  • Test and staging environments use synthetic data, never production PII