Security, privacy and audit
How Autessa Ethics Hotline protects reporters and reports
Autessa Ethics Hotline protects whistleblowers by collecting as little as possible: no IP addresses, no device details, no accounts, and passphrases kept only as a hash. Reports are encrypted at rest, reach only a named ethics committee minus anyone the reporter excluded, and every look at a case is recorded in an append-only log.
Data handling
What the hotline keeps, and who can see it
| Data | How it is handled |
|---|---|
| Reporter identity (Anonymous) | Never asked for or sent. No IP address or device details are recorded. |
| Reporter identity (Confidential) | Name and email, visible only to committee members who can see the case; never in any email. |
| Report content | Encrypted at rest. Visible to committee members who can see the case. |
| Passphrase | Made in the reporter’s browser; stored only as a hash; never in a URL, browser storage or a log. |
| Messages and internal notes | Messages are visible to the reporter and the committee; notes only to the committee. |
| Emails | Never contain report text, names, messages or outcomes; they point back to the workspace or the check page. |
| Exports | Codes, categories, states, dates and resolutions; never report text. Formula-like cells are neutralized. |
| After retention | Content can be purged to “[purged]”; the code, category, dates and outcome are kept. |
Permissions
Who can do what?
Every rule is enforced on the server for every request, from the viewer’s own identity.
| Who | What they can do |
|---|---|
| Reporter | Sends a report and, with the case code and passphrase, reads its status and messages and replies. No account. |
| Ethics committee member | Opens the workspace and works every case that doesn’t leave them out; manages committee and settings. |
| Committee member left out of a report | Can’t see, open, be emailed about, be assigned or see log entries for that case. A direct link says “not found”. |
| Company admin not on the committee | Runs first-time setup and can claim the first seat when the committee is empty; otherwise sees “This is only for the ethics committee”. |
| The person who installed the hotline | The only person who can set up, rotate or turn off the hotline’s data key. |
| Everyone else at your company | Uses the public hotline like any reporter. |
Controls
Protections built into every layer
Abuse protection
A hidden honeypot field and a minimum time on the form keep bots out; submissions and case checks are rate limited.
Narrow data access
The hotline’s data key can read and write its own data but never delete, and is sealed inside a private part of the app.
Rotation without downtime
A new key is made, checked and put in place before the old one is turned off. Keys are disabled, never silently replaced.
Turn it off
One switch closes the hotline and the workspace’s data access at once. Nothing is deleted.
Content-free email
Notifications never contain report details, so inboxes, forwards and phone previews leak nothing.
Append-only audit
Every case open and change, and every committee or settings change, in a log no one can edit or delete.
Audit
An access log your auditor can rely on
Every time a committee member opens or changes a case, and every committee or settings change, is recorded with who, what, when and which case. Each case also shows its own trail. Pair it with the content-free export and a logged hotline test for audit evidence.
Trust Center
Autessa’s security program, policies and compliance reports are published on the Autessa Trust Center. Ethics Hotline runs on the same platform.
FAQ
Security questions
Is Autessa Ethics Hotline secure enough for whistleblower reports?
It was built for them. Reports are encrypted at rest, anonymous reporters leave no IP address or device trail, passphrases are stored only as a hash, reports reach only a named committee, and every case open is logged. Autessa’s wider security program is on the Trust Center.
Can a company admin read hotline reports?
Not unless they are on the ethics committee. Company admins can run first-time setup, but the workspace shows them “This is only for the ethics committee” and the server refuses case access.
How are access rules enforced?
On the server, for every request. The workspace calls one tool that decides everything from the viewer’s own identity, so hiding something in the interface is never the only protection.
What can the hotline’s data key do if it leaked?
Read and write the hotline’s own data, never delete it, within rate limits. It lives only inside a private part of the app, is never shown to anyone, and can be rotated with no downtime or turned off at once.
100% customizable, code and all
Make Autessa Ethics Hotline fully your own.
Use it out of the box, then change anything. Ask Autobot, Autessa’s AI builder, for a new field, screen, report, workflow or agent and it builds it into your copy of the app. Or open the code and edit it yourself. Nothing is locked: the app, its data and its code are yours.
Start free and make it yours