How we protect client data

Last updated October 19, 2026

Guideline Desk is built for confidential criminal defense files, including presentence reports, which are confidential by statute (MCL 791.229). The design goal is simple: hold as little client data as possible, for as short a time as possible.

Documents never sit on our servers

• Files you upload are read in your browser. They stay there and are gone when you close the tab.
• To draft scores, the text and any scanned page images go to our server and straight on to the AI. We don't save them, and we don't write them to logs.
• Before text leaves our server, we strip Social Security, driver's license and phone numbers, email addresses and labeled dates of birth. Scanned images can't be redacted this way, so use text PDFs where you can.
• We keep only your email, your plan, and a count of assessments with their size, so we can enforce fair-use limits.

The AI

• We use Anthropic's Claude through its commercial API. Anthropic does not train models on API data without express permission.
• We have asked Anthropic for zero data retention, under which prompts and responses are not stored after the response returns. Until it's confirmed, Anthropic's commercial retention policy applies.
• Guideline Desk is not a self-learning tool in the sense of ABA Formal Opinion 512: one user's documents can't surface in another user's results.

Accounts and infrastructure

• Sign-in by one-time email link; no passwords to steal.
• All traffic is encrypted (HTTPS with HSTS). Stored account data is encrypted at rest.
• Each account can read only its own records, enforced in the database by row-level security.
• Card payments are handled entirely by Stripe; we never see card numbers.
• Hosting: Vercel (application) and Supabase (accounts database), US regions.
• We keep an audit trail of sign-ins and billing events, with no case content.

Your part

• Don't upload LEIN or other CJIS printouts; use ICHAT or the criminal history in discovery.
• Every score is a draft for your professional judgment. Review each one before relying on it.

Questions or a security concern

Email support@guidelinedesk.com. If we ever learn of a breach affecting your information, we'll tell you promptly and as Michigan law requires.