Why account numbers and SSNs belong in a form, and how to move clients there.
Email is a poor place for Social Security numbers, account numbers and statements. Messages sit in inboxes on both ends, get forwarded, and are rarely deleted. A Cartenda form is a better place for them. This article explains why, and how to get clients using forms instead of email.
This is general guidance based on common industry practice. It is not legal or compliance advice. Your compliance officer or consultant should set your firm's policy.
Why email is the wrong place#
- It lasts. An email with an SSN in it stays in your mailbox, your client's mailbox and any backup of either one, usually for years.
- It spreads. Replies, forwards and "reply all" copy the number to more places. You cannot recall it.
- It is hard to account for. You cannot easily prove who opened an attachment, or when.
- It trains clients badly. A client used to emailing their details to you is easier for someone pretending to be you to fool.
Many financial firms also have to protect client information under federal rules and their own written policies: Regulation S-P for SEC-registered advisers, and the FTC Safeguards Rule for many others, including tax preparers, mortgage lenders and brokers. Keeping sensitive details out of email makes that much easier to show. Check with your compliance officer what your firm's obligations are.
- Social Security numbers and account numbers are kept encrypted. Add a Social Security number or Account number question to your form. Cartenda stores the answer encrypted and shows it masked, for example *--1234. Only owners and admins can see the full number by default, and only after confirming their password. A firm can also give this permission to a custom role. Every time someone reveals a full number, on screen or in a summary PDF, it is recorded in the audit log.
- Documents go to one place. A File request question puts each statement, ID or return on the client's request, where you review it. It does not sit as an attachment in someone's mailbox.
- Messages do not carry the data. The emails and texts Cartenda sends your client contain a link, never their answers or documents. The receipt a client gets after sending says it "does not include what you sent."
- Every view is recorded. Every time someone at your firm opens a client's document through Cartenda, it is written to the audit log. Nobody can alter or delete that log.
For how documents are stored and processed, see Where your data lives.
Moving clients over#
Most clients email sensitive details because nobody has offered them anything better. A few habits change that.
- Say it once, early. At onboarding, tell clients you will never ask them to email an SSN, account number or statement. Tell them that anything you need will come as a request from your firm, with a link.
- Send a request instead of replying with an attachment. When a client asks "Can I just email it?", send them a request with a File request question for exactly that document. It takes a minute from the form's Share button.
- Answer by switching channels. If a client emails you a statement anyway, do not reply-all to confirm. Send a request for it, and let them know it is the safer way to send next time.
- Use texts for the link. Clients who ignore email often answer a text. See Text messages.
- Share your own documents the same way. When you need to send a client something sensitive, use Sharing your documents with clients instead of an attachment.
Help clients trust the link#
Clients are rightly wary of links asking for personal details. Every request email Cartenda sends tells the client, if they were not expecting it, to check with your firm using contact details they already have. Every text says to call your firm. Clients never need an account or a password.
You can forward Is this link safe? to any client who asks. It explains how to recognize a real request from you.
A note on your own inbox#
Moving new requests to forms does not clean up old email. Your compliance officer can advise on how to handle sensitive messages already in your firm's mailboxes.