WITNESS Data Security

Which researchers can access my apps and data?

Only active users within your organization.

Is my data ever stored or processed on the cloud?

No. All WITNESS Data storage and processing takes place on private servers under our physical control.

Does WITNESS Data have any external or 3rd party data subprocessors?

No. All WITNESS Data products were architected as closed systems from the start, and all data processing is performed internally for security reasons.

Does WITNESS Data inject any 3rd party tracking or analytics into browsing sessions?

No.

Can I invite researchers from other organizations to access my organization's data?

Yes. You may request account creation, including for external researchers, through your organization's official tech support channel.

If the user you wish to grant access already has a WITNESS Data login for another organization, the link(s) to your organization's software will be added to their existing dashboard. You may revoke access to any user, internal or external, at any time.

Who, inside of WITNESS Data, has access to our unencrypted data?

Only the WITNESS Data system administrator(s). Our tech support professional may be granted temporary permission, only at your request, on a case-by-case basis.

All client data is segregated, and each client's media storage is siloed. Access to client data is limited both technically and by policy.

Can WITNESS Data researchers search my data?

No. WITNESS Data does employ human rights investigators, but data is segregated by organization and our internal researchers' apps have the exact same permissions as client apps. You can't see our researchers' data and our researchers can't see yours.

Is my data end-to-end encrypted?

No. The software needs access to the unencrypted files for offline indexing and analysis in order to fulfill its purpose.

Is my data encrypted in transit?

Yes, all data is encrypted in transit at all times.

Can WITNESS Data be hosted on our own servers?

Partially. We do offer on-prem hosting for WITNESS Investigation management, if your security policy requires. On-prem is less feature-rich as the browser plugin, chain of custody, and Dragonfly AI are not supported.

Can on-prem installs run without internet access?

Partially. Maps will not work without internet access and we do required scheduled windows of connectivity to roll out WITNESS Data software updates.

What technical steps do you currently take to protect WITNESS Data client data?

• Both physical and virtual access to the WITNESS Data servers storing and/or processing client data is heavily controlled.
• Remote system administrator access to WITNESS Data servers is significantly restricted and most operations must be performed on-site.
• Traffic between the WITNESS Data application servers and the database does not travel over the open internet.
• Secrets used by the system are post-quantum encrypted and are not stored as environment variables.
• WITNESS apps offer granular user permissions and insider threat prevention and mitigation tools.
• Optional auditing logs with organization-specified retention periods will soon be made available.