Having UK based servers and data centres is now an essential part of being an SMS API provider
Companies no longer need to just worry about the security of personal data in their own systems.
They are also responsible for making sure that the suppliers they use also adhere to the relevant standards of data security.
Monitoring and scrutinizing how data is handled is an expensive and time consuming, ongoing process. Many organisations now have entire new departments that didn’t exist 10 years ago.
To help reduce the time and cost that our customers have to spend on auditing our data security, The SMS Works’ servers and data centres are based in the UK.
Why do we use UK servers and data centres for sending all SMS messages?
Even though the UK is no longer part of the EU, companies are still bound by its replacement, the UK-GDPR, which is essentially the same as GDPR.
To huge relief from The UK, the EU has given the new UK GDPR a clean bill of health and it’s seen as comparable to the EU version.
Companies and customers need to be responsible and aware of how all data is handled right through the supplier chain. In many cases this means that suppliers are required to complete lengthy data security surveys or questionnaires.
An important part of that is to be able to demonstrate that all SMS data we receive from our customers does not leave the UK.
As a sub-processor, The SMS Works aims to make it as easy as possible for our customers to sign off on our data security.
Why do companies want to use SMS suppliers with UK based servers and data centres?
The easiest way that a UK company can make sure that their SMS API supplier is complying with the data protection legislation that applies to them, is to use a supplier that is subject to the same rules as they are.
It’s as simple as that.
The SMS Works data security overview
See our more detailed technical overview if you like to find out more about our data security but here’s a brief summary.
Overview
SMS Server and data centre location – UK
All data is encrypted at rest, including all SMS account credentials.
Minimum uptime 99.95%.
Average SMS delivery time is Less than 5 seconds.
Redundant server architecture across multiple data centres, with data replication, ensuring high availability.
All servers are load balanced.
We use tier 1, direct to network connections for all our SMS traffic. We never use SMS grey routes.
System Security
The SMS Works infrastructure is monitored and protected 24×7.
Regular system patching ensures protection from possible security breaches.
A dedicated firewall stops unauthorised access to systems
API secret and key pairs are encrypted in the database. This means that only customers have access to their API credentials. The SMS Works personnel cannot access customer credentials.
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