ClosingVault security: how a data room is kept confidential

How are documents encrypted?

Envelope encryption means each document is encrypted with its own key, and that key is itself encrypted with a master key kept apart from the files.

• Every document is encrypted at rest with AES-256-GCM, using a key made for that one document.
• Each document key is wrapped by a master key kept apart from the stored files.
• Every connection runs over TLS, so documents and sign-ins are encrypted in transit.
• Production servers refuse to start without the master key, so they cannot run storing documents unencrypted.

How do people sign in?

Everyone proves they control their email address with a one-time code sent by email. Room admins also sign in with an authenticator app; in production this is enforced, not optional.

Who can see and download what?

• Every buyer moves through the same stages: teaser, NDA, CIM, LOI, diligence. Signing the NDA opens the CIM, and a submitted LOI opens diligence. Each buyer sees only the folders and stages released to them.
• Downloads are allowed person by person. Everyone else reads in a viewer watermarked with their name and the time, with printing and copying suppressed.
• Buyer access always ends: 2 weeks by default, 2 months at most, and only the room admin can extend it.
• Accepting an LOI with an exclusivity period pauses the other buyers’ access rather than ending it. Their access comes back on its own if exclusivity ends.

What does redaction remove?

Redaction is rule-based, not AI. It covers:

• Social Security numbers and taxpayer IDs
• Payment card numbers and bank account numbers, keeping the last four digits on statements
• Account details on checks and deposit slips
• Driver’s license, passport and date-of-birth entries, when they are labeled

The values are removed from the file, not just covered. Every redacted copy is checked again, and a copy is held back if any hidden value can still be found. Everyone sees the same redacted copy, a document reads “Being prepared” until its redaction is done, and the original is kept. Redaction is on by default, and a room admin can turn it off for a room.

Step by step, with how other data rooms redact: data room redaction. What the AI does and never does: AI data room.

What does the AI do with my documents?

Decision-only AI means the AI only picks from fixed choices (which folder, which checklist item, which date) and never writes text. There is no chatbot.

• Ask the Data Room returns documents, not prose. It never answers in its own words and never says whether a deal is good.
• Your documents never train an AI model.
• Filing uses one contracted classification service, which doesn’t train on customer documents. It receives the file name, the source folder name and extracted text (excerpts for long documents), with long account-style numbers masked to the last four digits. It never receives the file itself.
• OCR, redaction and search all run on ClosingVault’s own servers.

Is the activity log tamper-evident?

Yes. Who opened, downloaded or changed what, and when, is written to a hash-chained, append-only activity log. The database refuses edits and deletes, so a later change to the record can be detected.

What is ClosingVault’s SOC 2 status?

SOC 2 Type II is on the roadmap; ClosingVault is not certified.