Security, in plain words
What Compass by WattReach does to protect your firm's data, and who to tell if something looks wrong.
The short version
Compass by WattReach encrypts your firm's data in transit and at rest, makes an encrypted backup of every record and document each night, and checks every request against the person's role in your firm. Sign-in uses no passwords: people sign in with a link to their work email or with a passkey, and each person can add two-factor sign-in. An administrator can limit a client's file to chosen groups of your people, and Compass records every time someone opens a file.
Encrypted, in transit and at rest
Every connection to Compass is encrypted with TLS 1.2 or later, and browsers are told never to use an unencrypted one. Between Compass and its databases and file storage, data travels encrypted too. At rest, your firm's records and documents are encrypted with AES-256.
Backups
Every night Compass backs up every record and uploaded document. Each backup file is locked with its own AES-256 key, the key that opens them is kept apart from both the backups and the code, and 90 days of backups are kept.
Firms on Google Workspace can add Drive backup, a paid add-on. It copies every Drive as it changes, encrypted with a key of the firm's own, and keeps old versions from 90 days up to ten years. Every week a sample of the copies is read back and checked.
How your data is kept safe
Compass denies by default: every page, change and export is checked against the person's role in your firm, once in the app and again on the server behind it. Each firm sees only its own records. Firms' records sit in shared databases, each record marked with the firm it belongs to. Nobody signs in with a password, so there is none to steal or reuse, and each person can add two-factor sign-in.
Who can see what
Inside your firm, nobody sees anything their role does not allow. Someone who first signs in with your firm's email domain gets only the narrow starting role your firm chose, and an administrator adds the rest.
A client's file can also be limited to security groups: named groups of your firm's people, which an administrator makes on Team. Only the people in the file's groups can open it, whatever their role. For everyone else, Compass leaves the file out of lists, search, the calendar, notices, reports, downloads and AI answers, and opening it directly gets the same answer as a file that does not exist. That is how a firm keeps a file from a lawyer with a conflict, the screen often called an ethical wall.
A conflict check still finds a limited file. Someone outside its groups sees one line, that a file they cannot open matches the name, with no name, case or lawyer, and the check cannot be recorded clear while that line stands. Whoever limits a file must be in one of its groups, and the last person who can open a file cannot be taken out of its group.
Where your data lives
Your firm's records and uploaded documents are kept in cloud databases and file storage under WattReach's own account, encrypted as this page says. Your Google Drive stays in your Google account: Compass links each client's folders by name and does not open the files, unless your firm adds Drive backup, which copies them into encrypted backups.
Compass sends the text each AI feature needs to Anthropic's models, including features that run on their own, such as the spam check on each web form, the drafted reply on each lead and the name match in a conflict check. Payments are taken by LawPay or by your firm's own Stripe account.
Signing in
People sign in with a one-time link sent to their work email, behind a bot check, or with a passkey, which uses the phone's or computer's own lock. Each person can turn on two-factor sign-in from their profile: after the emailed link, Compass asks for a code from an authenticator app or for their passkey. A passkey sign-in counts as both steps, because it needs the device's own lock. Each person gets ten recovery codes, an administrator can reset two-factor for a lost phone, and five wrong codes pause codes for 15 minutes. Every refused sign-in is logged.
A session lasts 30 days. Removing someone ends their access, and any sign-in link they have not used stops working.
What is recorded
Every time someone opens a client's file, or a part of it, Compass writes down who, when and which part before it shows anything. If it cannot write that down, it does not show the file. An administrator who can open the file sees the last 200 opens on its Details tab and can download every one as a CSV, so a firm can show afterwards that a screen held.
Compass also logs changes to who has access, security groups and file limits among them, actions it refused, settings changes, and every backup download and restore. Every change to a client's record shows who made it.
Tell us if something looks wrong
If you think you have found a security problem in Compass or on this site, email hello@wattreach.com.
Questions
Is my client data safe in Compass?
Compass by WattReach protects client data with encryption in transit and at rest, encrypted nightly backups, roles that deny access by default, sign-in without passwords, and two-factor sign-in for anyone who turns it on. A client's file can also be limited to chosen groups of your people, and every open of a file is recorded.
Is our data encrypted?
Yes, Compass by WattReach encrypts your firm's data in transit, with TLS 1.2 or later, and at rest, with AES-256. Each nightly backup file is also locked with its own AES-256 key.
Does Compass have two-factor sign-in?
Yes, each person can turn on two-factor sign-in in Compass by WattReach from their profile: after the emailed link, a code from an authenticator app or their passkey. There are no passwords, and a passkey sign-in counts as both steps, because it needs the device's own lock.
Can we keep a file from a lawyer with a conflict?
Yes, an administrator can limit a client's file in Compass by WattReach to chosen security groups, and then only the people in those groups can open it. For everyone else, Compass leaves the file out of lists, search, the calendar, notices and reports, and it records every open of the file, so the firm can show afterwards that the screen held.
Can we see who opened a client's file?
Yes, Compass by WattReach writes down every open of a client's file, who and when, before it shows anything. An administrator who can open the file sees the last 200 opens on its Details tab and can download all of them as a CSV.
Where is Compass data stored?
Compass by WattReach stores your firm's records and uploaded documents in cloud databases and file storage under WattReach's own account, encrypted in transit and at rest. Google Drive files stay in your Google account unless your firm adds Drive backup.
Does Compass send our data to an AI company?
Yes, Compass by WattReach sends the text each AI feature needs to Anthropic's models, including features that run on their own, such as the spam check on each web form and the drafted reply on each lead.