Security at Ascend

Your documents, guarded like they're ours.

You hand us W-2s, 1099s, and Social Security numbers. That's not a transaction — it's trust. Here is exactly how we protect it, layer by layer, and the legal duties we operate under.

In transit

Encrypted on the way in

Every connection to the site and client portal is encrypted with TLS. Documents you upload travel over encrypted channels only — never as email attachments.

At rest

Encrypted where they live

Files in your Secure Document Vault and records in our database are encrypted at rest (AES-256) on infrastructure operated by providers that maintain SOC 2 Type II audits.

Access

Your account, actually yours

Sessions expire automatically, and we will never ask for your password by email, text, or phone.

Isolation

Walled off, client by client

Access rules are enforced at the database row level: your records are readable by your account and your preparer — no one else. There is no shared bucket of client files.

Beyond the tech

The legal duties we operate under

IRC §7216 — your consent controls your data. Federal law makes it a crime for a tax preparer to use or disclose your return information without your written consent. We collect that consent explicitly, and we never sell client data. Period.
FTC Safeguards Rule (GLBA). As a tax preparation firm, we're a "financial institution" under the FTC Safeguards Rule.
IRS e-file standards. As an IRS Authorized e-File Provider, we meet the IRS's security and identity-verification requirements for electronic filing, including signature authorization on Form 8879 before any return is transmitted.
Full disclosure

Who touches your data

ProviderWhat it doesWhat it can see
Supabase (AWS)Database, document vault, authenticationEncrypted client records and files
NetlifyHosts the website and portalNo client documents
ResendSends transactional email (receipts, status updates)Your email address and message content we send you
AnthropicPowers Ascend AI answers inside the portalOnly the questions you ask it — Ascend AI conversations are not used to prepare your return without your preparer's review
SanityManages public website contentNo client data

That's the whole list. No data brokers, no advertisers, no "partners." If this table ever changes, this page changes the same day.

See something?

Report a security concern

If you believe you've found a vulnerability, or you get a suspicious message claiming to be us, tell us and we'll respond within one business day. If we ever discover an incident affecting your data, you'll hear it from us first — plainly, promptly, and with exactly what we're doing about it.

ascendtaxesco@gmail.com