Periodically, we get a question on security of your data, such as your leads, notes, sales, etc. It seems that in the last month or so, we have seen a few extra inquiries on this subject, so we figured it was a good idea to state how our system works on security of your information and refresh the memory of those in the past that have inquired.
Additionally, IDA has been over-sensitive to the security of its users’ data for going on 5 years now, and there has never been and never will be any of your lead data, etc. released to anyone as that would be unethical and illegal. In fact, earlier this past year a health agency approached our firm about purchasing a license of IDA for its internal use of its large field force. The specific issue that IDA had with this agency was that it had plans of monitoring its own agents’ activities. As we completely disagree with the concept of a company monitoring 1099 independent contractors sales tactics, we turned them down for their own license.
How is Your Data Secure?
It is important for you to know the difference between a “Windows-based” program and a “Web-based” program for you to understand data security.
Windows-based programs are programs that work on your local computer and generally store their information right there on your own personal hard drive. Most people prefer a Windows-based program because the program runs quite fast, and their data is secure.
Web-based programs are programs that work through the internet. There is typically no software needed to run the program on your computer because the program and the data along with it are stored on someone else’s computer (called a “server”). These programs are generally much slower than Windows-based programs because you have to rely on the speed of the internet. Additionally, the database of information can be made available to someone to view. Typically, the owner of the license is granted this permission, which is why some corporations allow users to use the service at no cost to the agent, because the owner of the data is not the agent, but the corporation. If the agent were to have to pay a fee for the use of the software, they might have ownership of the data. Since the company pays for the use of the software, the company might own ALL of the data.
IDA itself is a Windows-based program and was created that way on purpose. During the development phase of the software, our 50 plus beta users, that consisted of actual agents from around the country, stated that they wanted to make sure that absolutely no one would access their data. Therefore, when you buy IDA, it is a program that is installed on your own computer or laptop. The data that you receive for your leads is through your own email account, and absolutely every bit of information is stored 100% on your computer. The only thing that IDA will do is periodically check to make sure you have a registered license, just like most other applications.
The only way data is ever transmitted through the internet to our server is if you pay for the backup service, which costs $15 per month (less than 10% of IDA users currently use this service). The only purpose of this service is to give you a way to backup your data in case something happens to your computer, and the backup location can actually be directed to a server of your choice if you so wished. Our programmers would simply have to work with your own IT staff to “point” the information in the right direction. However, we can assure you that data involved in the backup process is more secure than you can imagine, and Microsoft governs rules on software that makes it virtually impossible for anyone to access
We truly hope that this helps you understand the privacy of your data, and if you have any questions or comments, then please feel free to give us a call at anytime to speak to a representative.