1. About this policy
This policy explains how August protects the data our customers keep in August, how we back it up, and what we do to restore it if something goes wrong. It applies to all Subscriber Data, as defined in our Subscriber Terms, and to data held for landlords on our Free plan. It forms part of section 13 of the Subscriber Terms.
August is provided by Augur Technologies Limited, trading as August, company number 13636887.
2. Where your data is stored
August's database and the documents and photos you upload are stored with our cloud hosting provider in the United Kingdom. Our backups are also stored in the United Kingdom. Some features rely on other service providers, which are listed with their locations on our list of sub-processors and service providers. Customers can request the name of our cloud hosting provider by emailing [email protected].
3. How we back up your data
Your account data and records. Our main database, which holds your property, tenancy, financial and account records, is backed up continuously. This means that if data is lost or damaged, we can restore the database to a specific point in time within the backup period, rather than only to the last daily copy.
Documents and photos. Files you upload, such as tenancy agreements, certificates, receipts and photos, are kept in versioned storage in the United Kingdom. If a file is overwritten or deleted, earlier versions can be recovered within the backup period.
Security. Backups are encrypted and access to them is restricted to authorised members of our engineering team. Backups are stored separately from the live database, so a problem with the live system does not affect them.
4. How long backups are kept
Backups are kept for 14 days and then deleted automatically on a rolling basis. This means:
we can restore data to any point within the previous 14 days; and
when data is deleted from August, for example when you delete a record or we delete a closed account, it may remain in our backups for up to 14 days before it is permanently removed.
How long we keep data in August itself, rather than in backups, is explained in section 13 of our Privacy Policy.
5. Restoring data
If August suffers an incident that causes data to be lost or damaged, such as a technical failure or a security incident, we will:
investigate the cause and the data affected;
restore the affected data from the most recent suitable backup;
check that the restored data is complete and working correctly before bringing the service back; and
tell affected customers what happened and what we have done.
We aim to restore service and data as quickly as possible, using reasonable efforts. Recovery times depend on the nature and scale of the incident. We test our restore process regularly to make sure it works.
If an incident involves personal data, we will also follow our obligations under data protection law, including telling affected customers about a personal data breach as set out in Schedule 1 of our Subscriber Terms.
6. If you delete something by mistake
If you or someone in your Workspace deletes something by mistake, contact us as soon as possible through the in-app chat or at [email protected]. Where it is technically possible and the data is still within the 14-day backup period, we will try to recover it for you. Because backups cover the whole system, recovering a single item is not always possible, and we cannot recover data once it has passed the backup period.
7. Keeping your own copy
We recommend that you keep your own copies of important documents and records. You can export your data from August at any time using the export features available in your plan, such as financial reports and document downloads. If your account is closed, you can ask us for a copy of your data within 30 days, as explained in section 22 of our Subscriber Terms.
8. Our responsibility
If Subscriber Data is lost or damaged because of something we or our subcontractors did, we will use reasonable efforts to restore it from our latest backup, as set out in section 13 of our Subscriber Terms. This policy does not reduce any rights you have under those terms or by law.
9. Changes to this policy
We may update this policy as our systems change. The version and effective date at the top show when it was last updated. We will not make a change that significantly reduces how we protect your data without telling customers first.
If you have any questions about this policy, email [email protected].
See all our terms and policies.
To report a security concern, please report it via our security issue form.
