Hosting
BlackBird Annual Fund and Parent Fund applications are hosted on Amazon Web Services computers. The AWS center employs cutting edge security measures across the board. Security is provided on multiple levels: the operating system of the host platform and the virtual instance of the client,  which in this case is BlackBird. Each of these items builds on the capabilities of the others.
 
Data Transfer
Client data is transferred using 256-bit encryption. The data file is then transferred to BlackBird’s instance at the Amazon datacenter and imported into the BlackBird applications. All database transactions from the user to BlackBird and from BlackBird to the user are encrypted using SSL encryption. 
 
Backups
We use multiple levels of backup:

1. At the Amazon data center there is a backup created every twenty minutes. In case of failure this backup will be put back online within five minutes. The server is managed 24/7

2. These backups are stored for a week

3. Once a day a full backup is stored and saved indefinitely

 
Account Access 
To insure data confidentiality BlackBirdAF and BlackBirdPF have three levels of access for client users: the Class Agent or Parent Volunteer, the Staff level, and the Staff Administrator level.
 
The volunteers can only access those records  assigned to them. Volunteers cannot export data or print data from BlackBird applications. No user is able to directly modify data in the Client database (e.g. Raiser’s Edge). Pledges and suggested changes by the volunteers to correct contact information are sent via email to school staff, who then enter that data into their database.
 
User IDs and initial passwords are set by the Staff Administration.  

Deployment
All clients access BlackBird applications using approved web browsers . . . Chrome, Safari, or Internet Explorer. If you are choosing a browser, we recommend Chrome.