Is my tenants' personal information safe?

Tenant records belong to exactly one landlord account and access is enforced at the database level, so no other user can read them. On top of that, the most sensitive fields are encrypted column by column with a key that lives outside the database, in a separate key-management service.

That means an operator running a query against the database, or someone holding a stolen backup, sees ciphertext rather than your tenants' details.

What is encrypted with your own key

Each landlord account has its own data encryption key, held wrapped in a dedicated key-management worker rather than alongside the data. Today the per-account encryption covers:

• Tenants: name, phone number, notes, and the storage locations of their government ID and insurance documents
• Properties: address, co-owner name, mortgage lender, entity name, and notes

Tenant email addresses are not on that list yet, because they are needed in readable form to send reminders and receipts on your behalf. That is a known gap and it is being worked on. Amounts, dates, and lease terms are not column-encrypted either, since the app has to compute on them.

Everything else, including uploaded documents, is covered by the platform's encryption at rest and in transit rather than by the per-account key.

The honest threat model

Column encryption defends against the database being read by someone who should not be reading it: an ad-hoc query in the admin console, or a leaked backup. It does not defend against someone who controls the key service itself. There is no cryptographic defence against the operator of the operator, and pretending otherwise would be dishonest.

It also does not defend against a weak password on your own account, which is the far more likely route in practice.

Tenant documents

Government IDs, insurance certificates, and signed leases live in private storage buckets that are never public. They are reachable only through short-lived links your own account generates.

What to do in ProperLease

1. Only upload tenant documents you have a lawful basis to hold, and only for as long as you need them.
2. Remember that anything you export (a CSV, a downloaded PDF, a screenshot) leaves this protection and becomes your responsibility.
3. Tell your tenants what you collect and why. Under the terms you are the controller of that information.
4. Keep your own login secure, and write to hello@properlease.app if you suspect unauthorized access.