Security and data handling
MatterCase may be provided through a client-sponsored or law-firm-sponsored subscription. The authorization email identifies the customer, the scope of counsel’s approval, and any terms applicable to the recipient. This page describes MatterCase’s security and data-handling practices and does not determine who purchases the service or accepts commercial terms.
MatterCase is currently an invitation-only private beta limited to approved participants.
On this page, a Matter is the individual legal matter authorized for MatterCase; authorizing counsel is the lawyer who authorizes MatterCase’s case-support role; the customer is the client or firm holding the subscription; and authorized participants are the customer, counsel, client, and any other approved users for the Matter.
1. What can MatterCase do?
MatterCase can organize information and source documents for a Matter and prepare summaries, chronologies, questions, and drafts for authorized participants. It cannot provide independent legal advice, file documents, contact courts or other outside parties, move funds, or act under the name or authority of authorizing counsel.
2. Who can access Matter information?
Access is limited to authorized participants, MatterCase personnel when operationally necessary, and the identified email, hosting, web-proxy, and AI providers needed to run the service. MatterCase limits each provider to its function and requires personnel and providers that handle Matter information to be subject to confidentiality obligations.
3. How is Matter information used?
MatterCase uses Matter information only to provide, secure, and support the service or to comply with law. Matter information is not sold, used for advertising or demonstrations, or used by MatterCase or its AI provider to train or improve AI models.
4. How is Matter information protected and handled?
- MatterCase’s connections to web, email, and AI providers use TLS encryption in transit. MatterCase’s current single-host storage and DigitalOcean backup images are access-controlled but are not encrypted at rest.
- Each Matter has a separate workspace and private system state. Sender, recipient, Matter, and approval policy are checked before information enters a workspace, is sent to AI, or is delivered by email.
- Application tasks receive only the data mounts and provider credentials needed for their specific role. Public-site and monitoring tasks do not receive Matter content.
- Original email is preserved as the immutable authoritative record. Parsed text, indexes, AI inputs, summaries, drafts, and generated files are stored separately as derived material.
5. Which providers process Matter information?
| Provider | Function and information | Relevant retention |
|---|---|---|
| Cloudflare | DNS, web proxying, and client-facing TLS; web requests, form contents, IP addresses, and request metadata pass through its edge. | MatterCase does not retain Cloudflare request logs. Cloudflare’s operational data follows its published privacy policy. |
| Fastmail | Inbound and outbound email; message contents, headers, recipients, and attachments are stored in the MatterCase mailbox. | Mailbox copies remain until MatterCase deletes them. Fastmail states that deleted personal data remain in backups for 7 days, while message-level removal from compacted backup and search-index data has no guaranteed timeline; Fastmail support can perform an immediate account prune. |
| DigitalOcean | Hosts the MatterCase server; active Matter workspaces, email evidence, attachments, derived material, and private audit state reside on its infrastructure. | Active data remains until MatterCase deletes it. Daily crash-consistent full-disk backups include the MatterCase data on the Droplet’s root disk. DigitalOcean retains daily backups for 7 days, stores them in the same datacenter as the Droplet, and states that backup images are not encrypted at rest but are not externally accessible. |
| OpenAI | AI case support; selected email text, images, Matter workspace files, prompts, and derived output are processed through the API, File Search, and a temporary hosted container. | Responses are submitted with storage disabled; OpenAI states that background response state is retained for roughly 10 minutes and default abuse-monitoring data for up to 30 days. Matter vector stores persist until MatterCase deletes them and provider deletion completes within 30 days. MatterCase explicitly deletes hosted containers after processing; their configured fallback expiry is 20 minutes after last activity. |
Provider retention may be extended where a provider is legally required to preserve information. MatterCase does not opt in to provider use of API content for model training.
6. How can use be stopped or data removed?
Authorizing counsel may suspend or withdraw authorization at any time by emailing the support address in the authorization email from the authorized address. Once verified and applied, suspension stops new Matter information from entering the active workspace and stops new AI processing and ordinary outbound work for the Matter.
The customer or authorizing counsel may use that same support path to request an export or deletion. MatterCase will complete export or deletion from its active systems within 30 days after verifying the request, unless law or a preservation obligation requires longer retention. After active deletion, earlier copies may remain in DigitalOcean’s daily full-disk backups until they rotate out within 7 days. Other provider-held copies expire as described above.
MatterCase will promptly notify the customer, authorizing counsel, and client of any confirmed unauthorized access materially affecting the Matter.