Security at AOS.
Construction runs on records — pay applications, change orders, daily logs, lien waivers, audit trails. Losing or leaking them is an existential problem. This is how we protect them.
Pre-launch draft. This is a working draft suitable for closed-beta use and has not yet been reviewed by counsel. Material edits before paid GA are expected. The canonical content here is synchronized with the in-product version at app.aos.build/legal/security as of 2026-05-28.
1. Our approach
Security at AOS isn't a separate program — it's how the platform is designed. A separate database per customer. Encrypted credentials. A field-level audit trail by default. SSO with major identity providers. Soft-delete with deletion approval. The same controls that let your accountant defend a pay application three years later let your IT team defend the platform in a procurement review today.
The sections below describe how those controls are implemented. We're SOC 2-aligned in our controls; we're happy to walk a security team through specific evidence or fill out a questionnaire.
2. Infrastructure
AOS runs on managed cloud infrastructure in the United States. Major components:
Compute & web
Managed US cloud (Ohio region) — web service and background workers. Auto-deployed from a private source control on every approved review.
Database
Managed US cloud database. Separate platform database (central admin) and per-customer databases. Encryption at rest enabled by the provider.
Object storage
Managed object storage for uploaded files, drawings, photos, and PDF outputs. Server-side encryption at rest.
Queue / cache
Managed in-memory cache for background jobs and per-request caches.
The Service is delivered exclusively over TLS. HTTP requests are redirected to HTTPS at the load balancer; we do not accept unencrypted traffic.
3. Data protection
3.1 Encryption
- In transit: TLS 1.2+ between client and server, between AOS and our service providers (Twilio, AWS SES, Google, Microsoft), and between AOS and your authorized third-party integrations.
- At rest: database storage and object (file) storage are encrypted at the infrastructure layer by our cloud providers.
- Application-level encryption: per-customer integration credentials (API keys, OAuth tokens, webhook secrets) are encrypted at the application layer with industry-standard encryption (AES-128 + HMAC-SHA256) before they're saved. Decryption keys live only in protected runtime configuration, never in the database.
- Passwords are stored as industry-standard password hashing; we never store, log, or expose plaintext passwords.
3.2 Per-customer isolation
AOS keeps every customer separate from day one. Each customer has its own dedicated database. At sign-in, the central admin routes each request to the correct customer's database for the rest of that session. There is no cross-customer data access in the application; every query is bound to a single customer.
3.3 Customer data ownership
Customer data is owned by the customer. AOS does not sell customer data and does not use it to train AI models for the benefit of third parties. See our Privacy Policy for the full description of how data is collected, used, and shared.
4. Access control
SSO — Google & Microsoft
Standard single sign-on. Customers normally sign in through Google or Microsoft commercial; larger customers can deploy a dedicated Microsoft Entra instance on request.
Domain allowlist
SSO domain allowlists are fail-closed: a user from an unauthorized domain cannot complete sign-in even if the identity provider returns a valid token.
Auto-link by verified email
SSO logins automatically link to existing accounts only when the identity provider asserts a verified email address. Unverified emails get a manual confirmation step.
Role-based access
Hierarchical roles (worker, foreman, PM, accounting, admin, executive, owner) gate access to features and data within each customer's account.
Two-factor authentication
Available on every account; required for accounts with platform-admin or accounting-tier privileges in customers that enable enforcement.
Session controls
HTTPS-only secure cookies, short-lived sessions, IP-aware sign-in alerts, and forced re-authentication for high-risk operations (impersonation, deletion approvals).
5. External portals (board, alumni, sub-bid)
AOS exposes several public-facing portals that sign users in via a secure one-click link rather than a password: the board distribution portal (engagement-tracked board packets), the alumni pay-history portal (ex-employee W-2 / pay-stub access for the 7-year window), the sub bid portal, and the owner approval portal. These portals share a common security posture:
Secure one-click links
Each portal issues a secure, time-limited link with a distinct secure key per portal — a board link can never be re-used as an alumni link, and the other way around. Expirations are tuned per use (alumni invite: 14 days, email verify: 24 hours, login: 30 minutes; board distribution: 14 days).
One-way hashing of links
We store only the secure one-way hash of every issued link in a tamper-resistant log. When the link is used, we hash the incoming value and look it up. A second attempt to use the same link is flagged and rejected.
Visitor IP & browser hashed only
Engagement events on the board portal store the visitor's IP address and browser identifier only as secure one-way hashes. Raw values are never saved. We can correlate within a session; we can't identify the person.
Additional protective settings
Public portals respond with no-index for search engines, frame-embed blocking, no caching, and no referrer leakage. Board packets do not appear in search engines or third-party referrer logs.
Tamper-resistant access log
Every use of a secure one-click link, every document view, and every download is recorded in a customer-scoped access log that the application cannot rewrite. The log survives independently of the portal session.
Public-page allow-list
Public portal pages are explicitly listed; every other page on the site requires login by default. Adding a new public page requires a security review.
5.1 Blue Notary RON for lien waivers
Lien waiver notarization is performed through Blue Notary's remote online notarization service. The notarization job is opened by AOS at waiver-receive time; the waiver lifecycle refuses to advance from pending_notary to received until Blue Notary reports a completed signing session. Notary identity-verification credentials and session recordings are retained by Blue Notary in accordance with their RON certification; AOS retains only the signed PDF and the completion attestation.
6. Monitoring & logging
6.1 Field-level audit trail
Every business-critical write to the database — pay applications, change orders, RFIs, submittals, AP bills, timesheets, daily logs, schedule tasks — is recorded in a per-customer audit log with the user, timestamp, before/after values, and the originating request. The audit trail is tamper-resistant from the application; deletion of an audit row requires deletion-approval workflow with two-party sign-off.
6.2 Soft delete with deletion approval
Most records cannot be hard-deleted. They are flagged deleted, persist in the database for a configurable retention window, and require a deletion-approval workflow with a documented reason before any hard delete occurs. This protects against accidental loss and provides a defensible record for audits.
6.3 Application logging
Application logs are sent to secure log storage with retention appropriate to the service tier. Logs are scrubbed of obvious sensitive values (passwords, API keys, tokens) before persisting.
6.4 Login & impersonation events
Successful and failed sign-ins, password resets, Two-factor activity, and platform-admin impersonation events are recorded in dedicated event tables. Impersonation requires a fresh-password challenge plus a written reason and is auditable to the second.
7. Backups & recovery
Customer databases are backed up daily by our managed-database provider with point-in-time recovery available within the retention window. Object storage maintains durable, redundant copies of uploaded files within the storage region.
We test restoration on a recurring cadence and rebuild a non-production customer database from backup as part of operational drills. AOS will provide our most recent recovery test summary on request as part of a customer's procurement review.
8. Vulnerability management
- Dependency monitoring: we track third-party software dependencies for known security vulnerabilities and apply security patches on a priority schedule.
- Code review: every change to the system goes through peer code review before it ships. Security-sensitive changes (auth, encryption, access control, audit logging) are flagged for additional review.
- Automated code checks: code-quality and security checks run on every change.
- Penetration testing: AOS uses an independent third-party for recurring penetration tests as part of our SOC 2 alignment.
- Secret management: production secrets live in protected runtime configuration, are never committed to source control, and rotate on a schedule.
9. Incident response
AOS maintains a written incident-response plan covering detection, triage, containment, eradication, recovery, customer notification, and post-incident review. In the event of a confirmed security incident affecting customer data:
- We notify affected customers without undue delay, consistent with applicable law and our contractual commitments.
- Notifications include a description of the incident, the data affected, the steps we have taken, and what (if anything) the customer should do.
- Where required by law, we notify regulators within statutory timelines.
- A post-incident review is conducted and shared internally; customer-facing summaries are provided on request.
10. People & access
Access to production systems is limited to a small number of authorized engineers under formal access agreements. Access to customer data in production is on a need-to-know basis, time-bounded, logged, and reviewed.
All employees and contractors sign confidentiality agreements and complete onboarding security training. Background checks are performed where permitted by law for roles with elevated production access.
11. Compliance posture
SOC 2 alignment
AOS is SOC 2-aligned in control design across the security, availability, and confidentiality trust criteria. We are happy to walk through specific control evidence with your security team.
U.S. data residency
All Customer Data is stored and processed in the United States. We do not replicate Customer Data outside U.S. regions without prior customer authorization.
State privacy laws
We honor data-subject rights under California (CCPA/CPRA), Virginia, Colorado, Connecticut, Utah, and other applicable U.S. state privacy laws. See our Privacy Policy.
SMS carrier compliance
SMS deliverability is managed for you. AOS operates the SMS messaging service and registers brand and campaign with the carrier ecosystem; customers do not run their own SMS carrier compliance programs.
12. Responsible disclosure
If you believe you have found a security vulnerability in the Service, please email us at security@aos.build with:
- A description of the issue and where you found it.
- Steps to reproduce.
- Any proof-of-concept materials, with sensitive data redacted.
We commit to:
- Acknowledge your report within 2 business days.
- Keep you updated as we triage and remediate.
- Not pursue legal action against good-faith research that follows the guidelines below.
Please do not access data that is not yours, modify or destroy data, run automated scans that degrade service, or publicly disclose findings before we have had a reasonable opportunity to remediate.
13. Contact
- Security reports: security@aos.build
- Procurement / questionnaires: security@aos.build
- Privacy: privacy@aos.build