Zapier is an automation tool that allows users to set up advanced automation workflows, integrating with over 5,000 apps.
For example, you can have events from emails automatically added to your calendar or entries from submission forms added to your to-do list.
With so many apps supported, though, you might wonder how Zapier ensures security. It has often been described as a translator between APIs, which obviously leaves the question of how it avoids security risks when working with so many apps.
Since so many businesses use Zapier, it’s important to take a closer look at its security features and investigate whether it’s safe to use.
This guide will be looking at the security issues that may be present when using Zapier and how to ensure your data is safe when using it.
The short version: Yes, Zapier is safe to use. It uses advanced encryption and security measures, has undergone SOC 2 and SOC 3 audits, and is compliant with GDPR, UK GDPR, and CCPA regulations.
Read on for the full version.
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Zapier’s Security Measures
First, let’s take a look at the different security measures present in Zapier and how it protects your personal data.
256-Bit AES Encryption for Data Storage
With so much data being transferred through different APIs and workflows, a strong encryption standard is critical. Fortunately, Zapier uses secure encryption at rest – meaning that it has strong encryption for data that is being stored in its databases.
For data at rest, Zapier uses 256-bit AES encryption. AES (Advanced Encryption Standard) is one of the most secure encryption protocols for securing data.
The 256-bit part means that it uses a key of 256 bits, making it harder to crack than encryption protocols that use 128-bit keys, for example.
The longer the security key, the harder it is to crack. A 256-bit key is incredibly difficult to crack, even if you have advanced computer algorithms, which is why banks, financial institutions, and other important organizations that protect critical data use 256-bit encryption.
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TLS 1.2 for Secure Network Communication
Meanwhile, for data in transit, Zapier uses TLS 1.2. TLS stands for Transport Layer Security, and it’s a popular protocol for securing and encrypting data in transit.
It is used for email communication, VoIP (Voice Over Internet Protocol), and instant messaging.
Have you ever seen a site secured by HTTPS? That also uses TLS.
However, there are different versions of the TLS protocol. TLS 1.2 is still widely used, but it was released in 2008, and it isn’t as secure as the newer version, TLS 1.3, which was defined in 2018.
Not only is TLS 1.3 incredibly faster due to the much shorter handshake process (the two communicating parties must complete a “handshake” to verify a secure connection before the transfer of data), but it is also much more secure.
There are many reasons for that, one of them being that TLS 1.3 mandates forward secrecy, which was only optional in TLS 1.2. By generating a new key for each secure session, the protocol ensures that even if the key is hacked, the attackers will not be able to compromise prior sessions.
TLS 1.3 also removes vulnerable ciphers and algorithms present in the TLS 1.2 standard.
So, is TLS 1.2 safe?
Yes, it’s still safe, but it’s not as safe as TLS 1.3. There is a reason that the NIST (National Institute of Standards and Technology) requires support of TLS 1.3 by 2025 from government servers and clients.
So, back to Zapier: While data at rest is incredibly secure, data in transit is a bit less so. Nevertheless, it’s still pretty secure – TLS 1.2 can still be used, unlike TLS 1.1, which is already outdated and unsafe.
When configured correctly, TLS 1.2 is safe, and it’s still very widespread. Still, I would hope that in the coming years, Zapier will switch to TLS 1.3.
24/7 On-Call Security Teams
Photo by Tima Miroshnichenko, Pexels
Zapier has security and SRE (Site Reliability Engineering) teams available on call 24/7. These teams ensure that the site is running properly and there are no security vulnerabilities; if there are, they get patched quickly.
The SRE team also ensures that Zapier is available at all times to its clients. High availability is an important characteristic of any decent SaaS (and any cloud service in general).
There is also a status page, where you can check to see if Zapier is experiencing any downtime.
Regular Security Audits and Vulnerability Management
Zapier has a robust change management workflow in place to ensure that its code is safe. That includes regular audits of its code for security purposes.
Every pull request (which is when a developer informs others about a change) must be reviewed by peers before it is approved to ensure that there are no security flaws.
Pentesting is also performed regularly to look for flaws that hackers could exploit to gain access to the Zapier infrastructure. An independent pentesting provider does a thorough penetration test at least once a year, although I would have liked for it to be more often.
Zapier has a threat detection software running as well to look for vulnerabilities and security flaws. It even has a bug bounty program that incentivizes third parties and independent hackers to look for holes in its security systems.
Hosted on Amazon Web Services (AWS)
Zapier uses AWS – Amazon Web Services – as its cloud hosting provider. There are only a few main hosting providers in the world, including AWS, Microsoft, Google Cloud, and Azure.
Smaller SaaS companies like Zapier typically rely on one of these major cloud service providers.
AWS is known for its top-notch security protocols for its cloud infrastructure. It complies with various security assurance programs, some of which you can view here.
Compliance and Data Privacy
In addition to solid cybersecurity practices and measures to ensure the privacy and confidentiality of customer data, Zapier also complies with various governmental laws and regulations designed to protect customer privacy.
Zapier is GDPR-compliant. GDPR stands for General Data Protection Regulation, and it was designed, created, and put into place by the European Union to protect the privacy of users online.
Have you noticed that many websites now give you a prompt, the first time you visit them, asking you if you accept cookies? This is due to GDPR rules that require them to get your permission before they can track you with cookies.
GDPR took effect completely in 2018, and it’s the toughest regulation of its kind in the world. The EU really went above and beyond to ensure that corporations are not abusing user data, and it requires businesses that do not comply to pay heavy fines.
Not only is Zapier completely compliant with GDPR regulations, but it is also compliant with UK GDPR, which is the UK version of the GDPR standard.
It’s pretty much the same as the original GDPR law but revised to domestic UK law instead of EU law. Remember, after Brexit, the UK is no longer part of the EU.
Furthermore, Zapier is CCPA compliant. CCPA stands for the California Consumer Privacy Act, and it is California’s local state statute designed to protect California residents from invasion of privacy by large corporations.
It’s important to remember that as a customer, you are the data controller, while Zapier is the data processor. That sounds a bit confusing, but it basically means that you have full control over your data, even though Zapier processes it in various ways.
Zapier’s commitment to data privacy is impressive, given how complicated things can get when involving so many apps and APIs. As the data controller, you get to control how the flow of data goes from one app to another.
Zapier, on the other hand, is the processor, but there are other sub-processors involved as well. For example, Zapier uses Stripe to process your payments, and Stripe must have access to some of your data as well to process those payments.
You can read more about your role as a data controller and Zapier’s role as a data processor here.
Another thing worth noting is that Zapier does not run ads to make money. That means you have one less thing to worry about – Zapier won’t sell your private data to large advertising firms like Facebook might.
User Reviews and Experiences
Let’s take a quick look at user reviews on various third party review sites to see what people are saying about Zapier.
Overall, users appreciate the ease of use of Zapier – it’s incredibly intuitive, without much of a learning curve, allowing people to quickly create automated workflows. It also has a wide range of integrations – thousands of apps connect to Zapier.
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On G2, Zapier has a 4.5-star rating out of 5, which is excellent. There are over 1,000 4-star and 5-star reviews, with only a few dozen 1-star reviews (this number will change over time, but the point is to show you the ratio of good to bad reviews).
Zapier got between 8.3-8.6 out of a scale of 10 for ease of use, ease of setup, and quality of support, three major metrics that G2 tracks.
Reviewers mention the exceptional customer support that Zapier provides, as well as how much time it allows them to save by setting up simple automations and avoiding manual work.
On GetApp, it has a rating of 4.7 stars out of 5. In terms of value for money, it rates 4.4 stars, achieving 4.6 stars for functionality.
One reviewer, “Alek A,” wrote that, “This is probably the greatest automation program in the whole game.”
People also mentioned the quick response times when contacting customer service.
Finally, let’s take a look at how Zapier is rated on TrustRadius.
There, it has a rating of 9 out of 10. People mention how efficient and user-friendly it is, especially when compared to other automation tools, many of which have much steeper learning curves.
Others mentioned how it lives up to its promise and provides the right value for the price.
Not only that, but Zapier won the TrustRadius Top Rated Award four years in a row, from 2019 to 2022! The majority of the reviews are positive, with only a handful of negative reviews, but that’s to be expected of any product.
SOC 2 Type II Compliance Audit
Let’s talk a bit about the audits that Zapier has gone through.
Zapier has undergone an SOC 2 audit. SOC stands for System and Organization Controls, and an SOC audit checks if an organization is properly handling the data of its customers and ensuring the privacy and confidentiality of that data.
Specifically, the SOC 2 audit is a standard developed by the IACPA, or American Institute of CPAs. It focuses on five things:
- Security
- Privacy
- Confidentiality
- Availability
- Processing integrity
In particular, it focuses on how those things relate to customer data. This standard is targeted towards any organization that stores or processes customer data, including SaaS companies like Zapier.
What exactly do those things mean, though? Isn’t privacy and confidentiality the same thing?
Photo by Markus Spiske, Pexels
Well, no. Let’s take a look at these five factors.
First up is security. Security refers to securing the network and internal systems against intrusions, as once intruders gain access to the system, they can also access private customer data.
Companies may use a variety of measures to improve security. Firewalls help prevent unauthorized access, while intrusion detection services also ensure that intrusion attempts are detected and addressed sooner rather than later.
In addition to logical security, companies may also put various physical security measures in place. For example, access control cards may ensure that only authorized people can enter a data center, and an access control vestibule (a set of two doors with space in the middle) can ensure that unauthorized people don’t tag along unnoticed and enter the data center.
Privacy refers to how the company takes care of your data. Does it do its utmost to ensure your privacy?
When it comes to personal identifiable information, such as your Social Security number, the company must have secure controls and rules as to how it manages that data, how it stores it, how long it stores it for before it’s deleted, whether it stores private data when not necessary, and so on.
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Confidentiality is similar, but it focuses more on ensuring that confidential data remains confidential. In other words, it focuses on ensuring that only the right people – and a limited number of people – can access that data.
Confidentiality may include ensuring that only people who must access the confidential data can access it (the principle of least privilege) and that it is properly encrypted when being transferred – again, so that unauthorized users can’t read it.
Availability refers to ensuring that the system is accessible and available and that customers can access their data as needed. If there is downtime, it must be addressed right away, so customers can access the system as outlined in the service agreement.
Finally, we have processing integrity, which ensures that the data is processed correctly and that the processing doesn’t lead to errors (and that measures are in place to correct such errors if they do arise).
Of course, if the data given is incorrect from the get-go, it might be entered incorrectly, even if it is processed correctly later. That is why data integrity is a different thing than processing integrity.
Photo by Tima Miroshnichenko, Pexels
Not only that, but Zapier has undergone an SOC 3 audit as well. An SOC 3 audit is very similar to an SOC 2 audit.
The difference is that it is geared towards a general audience – the public – including customers of SaaS products such as Zapier. On the other hand, an SOC 2 report is intended for the eyes of certain people only, such as user entities.
In the case of Zapier in particular, you can obtain a copy of the SOC 2 report if you are using Zapier for Teams or Companies or have access to premium support.
Meanwhile, the SOC 3 report is written with the customers in mind. People who want to use Zapier but are worried about compliance and security of data can understand and comprehend the SOC 3 report.
That Zapier has undergone both SOC 2 and SOC 3 audit provides assurance for both partners and users regarding data security. You can feel secure using Zapier, knowing that a trusted third party has approved of the measures it has taken to protect your data from prying eyes.
Conclusion
In summary, Zapier is a safe and secure automation tool with a strong focus on data security and privacy.
It has complied with industry standards and goes through regular audits to ensure that it is living up to its promises when it comes to protecting customer data from hackers and malicious actors.
While it complies with governmental privacy laws such as the GDPR and CCPA, it goes beyond that and has undergone SOC 2 and SOC 3 audits.
These third-party audits demonstrate that it is properly handling your data, ensuring its privacy and confidentiality, protecting your data from hackers and intruders, and processing your data with integrity while ensuring system availability.
In conclusion, you can use Zapier safely.
