A free book scan asks an agency to hand over a spreadsheet describing its clients. That is regulated personal financial data, the principal signing off on it is answerable for it under GLBA and, in most states now, some form of the NAIC Insurance Data Security Model Law, and "trust us" is not an answer. This page is the answer: what we ask for, where it goes, who can see it, how long we keep it, and what we will put in writing.
It is written plainly and it does not overstate what we have. Where we do not hold something, we say so.
This site is static. It sets no cookies, and has no login, no upload form, and no database behind it. The only thing you can send us here is the contact form, which takes your name, work email, agency name, and rough book size, and nothing else. Our privacy policy covers that in detail.
We do count page views, using PostHog. The two features of it that would matter on a page like this — recording what you type into a form, and replaying your screen — are both switched off, and the free calculators send us the fact that one was used and nothing that was entered into it. The privacy policy lists exactly what is and is not collected.
Do not attach or paste client data into the contact form. When you request a scan we reply and set up a transfer for the actual file. The website is never part of that path.
After you request a scan we send you the export specification and a secure transfer link. The file moves over an encrypted connection into storage we control, and it is encrypted at rest once it lands. We do not ask anyone to email a book as an attachment, and if you send one that way we will ask you to use the transfer link instead.
For a first scan, you do not have to send us anyone's name. The arithmetic that finds the opportunities is dates, ages, policy types, terms, and amounts. Names are only needed at the point we hand you back a call list, and only then if you want us running the outreach.
So if it makes the decision easier, replace the name column with row IDs and send us that. The scan works, the numbers are real, and you can decide about names once you have seen what is in the book. Ask for a redacted scan when you get in touch and we will send the specification for it.
A standard export is enough. Typically:
We do not need, and ask you not to send:
If those columns are in your export, strip them before sending. If they arrive anyway, we delete them rather than store them.
Your book is encrypted in transit and encrypted at rest, and it is not processed on personal devices. We will tell you exactly where it is stored and processed, and by which provider, before you send anything — in writing, and in the agreement rather than only in an email.
Access is limited to the people at Pendwell who need it to run your scan or your outreach, and it is removed when they no longer need it. Nobody outside Pendwell has access to your book, and no other client of ours does either. If you want the specific number of people and how their access is controlled, ask and we will tell you.
If you take the free scan and go no further, we delete the source file and the working copies made from it once the report is delivered. You do not have to ask, and you can ask us to do it sooner or to confirm when it is done. We will commit to a specific retention period in the agreement before you send anything, so it is a term you can hold us to rather than a promise on a web page.
If you engage us, we keep your data for as long as we are running your outreach, because that is what the work needs, and we delete it on request or when the engagement ends. Ordinary business records of the engagement itself, such as invoices and correspondence, are kept as any business keeps them.
Handling a book involves infrastructure we do not build ourselves: cloud hosting and storage, and our business email. Running outreach for you involves more, because mail, email and text fulfilment are done by providers.
We will give you the complete list, by name, before you send us anything, and we name every one of them in the agreement. We do not add a new one without telling you. Ask for the list at the same time you ask for the scan; it is not something we hold back.
One we can name here because it applies to this website rather than to your book: the contact form on this site is delivered by Formspree. It handles website enquiries only and never touches client data.
Pendwell does not hold SOC 2 or any comparable certification today. We would rather tell you that than let a page of security language imply otherwise. What we can offer instead is everything above in writing, a signed data processing agreement, a redacted first scan that keeps your clients' names out of it entirely, and a straight answer to any question your compliance officer wants to put to us.
We will sign a data processing agreement covering the commitments on this page, and we will sign yours if you have one you prefer to use. We will also sign a mutual NDA. Ask when you request the scan and we will have it back to you quickly; this should not take a two-week legal round trip.
If we become aware of a breach affecting your data, we will notify you without undue delay, tell you what we know and what we do not yet know, and support your own notification obligations under state insurance data security law. We would rather tell you early with an incomplete picture than tell you late with a tidy one. If your compliance program requires a specific notification deadline, say so and we will agree it in the data processing agreement.
You remain the party responsible for your clients' data. We act on your instructions as your service provider, and nothing here changes your own duties under GLBA, your state's insurance data security law, or your carrier agreements. If your compliance program requires something specific of a vendor, tell us during the scan rather than after, and we will tell you plainly whether we can meet it.
Nothing on this page is legal or compliance advice.
Security and data handling questions, from you or from your compliance officer: [email protected]. We answer them directly rather than routing them into a sales conversation.