Data Architecture:
The Foundation of Trust
When you entrust a platform with your customs data, you’re sharing supplier identities, shipment volumes, declared values, broker performance, and compliance patterns. The architecture of the platform you choose determines who else can access, analyse, or benefit from that data.
Why Data Segregation Matters
When you entrust a platform with your customs data, you’re sharing:
This is commercially sensitive information. The architecture of the platform you choose determines who else can access it.
How MyCustomsInfo® Protects Your Data
Customer data is held in Amazon RDS PostgreSQL, with a separate schema for each tenant and row level security applied at the database layer. Documents held in S3 are encrypted with a per-tenant AWS KMS Customer Managed Key.
Tariff reference data is held separately and contains no customer information.
Separate Databases
Your customs entries are not in the same database as other clients
Isolated Processing
Your analytics computations never touch another client’s data
Dedicated Access Controls
Permissions for your environment don’t grant access to others
Independent Encryption Keys
Your data is encrypted with keys unique to your environment
Think of it as an archipelago. Each island (client) is self-contained with its own resources, fortifications, and ecosystem. A hurricane hitting one island doesn't affect the others. Many competing platforms use a "continental" model where all clients share the same landmass. A disaster anywhere can spread everywhere.
The Hidden Cost of “Industry Benchmarking” Features
Some platforms advertise features like “Compare your broker’s performance against industry averages” or “AI-powered risk scoring based on global trade patterns.” What they don’t advertise: these features are mathematically impossible without pooling data across clients.
To generate “Broker ABC’s average compliance rate,” the platform must:
- 1.Query all customs entries across all clients using Broker ABC
- 2.Calculate aggregate compliance metrics
- 3.Use YOUR data with Broker ABC to generate the benchmark for OTHER clients
The result: Your broker performance data, a competitive asset, becomes a shared resource.
Commercial Confidentiality
Your supplier and broker relationships are exposed (even if anonymised) through pattern analysis
GDPR Compliance Risk
Using your data for purposes beyond your own compliance violates GDPR Article 5(1)(b), Purpose Limitation
Competitive Intelligence Leakage
Aggregated data can be de-anonymised, especially in niche industries or product categories
Expanded Breach Impact
If the platform is compromised, ALL client data is at risk, not just yours
Analytics Without Compromise
We deliver detailed insights without data co-mingling. Every analytical feature is built from YOUR data alone.
| Feature | How We Build It (Without Pooling) |
|---|---|
| Declaration Performance Dashboards | Metrics from YOUR entries with each broker. No cross-client comparison. |
| Compliance Trend Analysis | YOUR historical compliance patterns over time |
| Predictive Analytics | Forecast YOUR shipment risks based on YOUR entry history |
| Supplier Performance | Evaluate YOUR suppliers based on YOUR entries |
The trade-off we accept: You won’t see “how you compare to industry averages.” What you gain: complete data confidentiality, GDPR compliance by design, protection of commercial secrets, and a contained security blast radius.
Cyber Attack Containment: Blast Radius = One Client Maximum
| Attack Type | MyCustomsInfo® | Pooled Data Platform |
|---|---|---|
| SQL Injection | Affects one client database only | Could expose entire customer base |
| Compromised Admin Account | Access limited to assigned clients | Could access all clients |
| Ransomware | Encrypts one client environment | Encrypts entire platform |
| Data Exfiltration | Attacker gets one client’s data | Attacker gets all clients’ data |
Affects one client database only
Could expose entire customer base
Access limited to assigned clients
Could access all clients
Encrypts one client environment
Encrypts entire platform
Attacker gets one client’s data
Attacker gets all clients’ data
GDPR Compliance by Design
Article 5(1)(f): Integrity & Confidentiality
“Personal data shall be processed in a manner that ensures appropriate security… using appropriate technical measures.”
Our architecture IS the technical measure: data segregation reduces attack surface, compartmentalisation limits breach impact, per-client encryption enhances confidentiality.
Article 5(1)(b): Purpose Limitation
“Personal data shall be collected for specified, explicit and legitimate purposes…”
Your purpose: manage customs compliance for your organisation. Our processing: we process your data ONLY for your compliance management. No benchmarking. No cross-client analytics. No purpose creep.
Frameworks our architecture is designed to support
MyCustomsInfo® holds ISO/IEC 27001:2022 certification. The frameworks listed here describe controls the platform architecture is designed to support. They are not certifications held by MyCustomsInfo®.
Who Benefits Most from Compartmentalised Architecture?
You should prioritise data segregation if your customs data represents a competitive asset.
Pharmaceutical Imports
Supplier relationships and shipment patterns are trade secrets
Electronics Manufacturing
Component sourcing strategies are competitive differentiators
Retail & E-commerce
Product mix and seasonal patterns reveal business strategy
Automotive Parts
Just-in-time supply chains require broker performance confidentiality
Luxury Goods
High-value shipments increase stakes of a data breach
You should prioritise data segregation if:
Ready to Experience Compartmentalised Security?
We don’t offer free trials with shared demo data. Instead, we offer Enterprise Proof-of-Concept deployments in YOUR isolated environment with YOUR data under mutual NDA. Because data architecture isn't just a feature. It's a promise.