Security

AxleTap holds your sales, inventory, charge accounts and books. Here is how we protect them.

Where your data lives

AxleTap runs in a major cloud provider’s data centers in the United States. The database is managed PostgreSQL with encryption at rest, automated daily backups and point-in-time recovery for 35 days. Files you upload are stored encrypted in the same provider’s object storage. Nothing is stored on counter PCs or phones beyond the browser’s session.

One store cannot see another

Every record carries the store it belongs to, and the database itself enforces that boundary (PostgreSQL row-level security). The application’s database role cannot turn that enforcement off. This is checked by an automated test gate on every change we ship.

Encryption

All traffic uses TLS 1.2 or higher. Data is encrypted at rest in the database, in backups and in file storage. Secrets such as bank-connection keys are encrypted again at the application level before they are stored.

Sign-in

• Back-office users sign in with email and password and a second step (an authenticator app). The second step is required to connect a bank account or change payment settings.
• Counter staff use a personal PIN or badge at a register that a manager has enrolled; the register itself is tied to the store.
• Sessions expire; staff accounts can be disabled instantly by the owner.
• Mobile app access uses short-lived tokens tied to an enrolled device.

Payments and banks

• Card numbers never touch AxleTap. Cards are entered into your card processor’s secure form or terminal; we receive a token and the last four digits. This keeps AxleTap out of PCI scope for card data.
• Bank passwords never touch AxleTap. Bank connections go through Plaid; we receive read-only transactions and balances for the accounts you choose, and we cannot move money.

Audit trail

Every change to a record is logged with who made it and when, and the log cannot be edited from the application. Day-close, voids, price overrides and discounts are attributed to the person who performed them. Signed agreements carry a hash-chained signing record.

Operations

• Infrastructure is defined in code and changed through reviewed pull requests.
• Every change runs an automated test suite before deployment, including the isolation and audit gates above. Production deployments require a named approver.
• Error reporting excludes card and bank data.
• Staff access to production is limited to named engineers with two-step sign-in, and is logged.
• Dependencies are scanned automatically for known vulnerabilities and updated regularly.

Availability

Daily backups with point-in-time recovery and a documented, scheduled restore test. During an incident we tell affected stores by email and with a notice inside the application.

Incident response

If we confirm a security breach affecting your data we tell the account owner without undue delay and within 72 hours, with what happened, what data was involved and what we are doing about it.

Responsible disclosure

If you believe you have found a security problem, email security@axletap.com. Please give us reasonable time to fix it before publishing. We do not take action against good-faith research that respects our customers’ data.

Your part

Give each person their own account, remove people who leave, keep two-step sign-in on, and export your data regularly from Settings → Your agreement. We are happy to walk through this with you.