Eyes can glaze over when tech talk dives too deeply into the intricate workings of a particular software, but for title agents, understanding the role of SOC II compliance is critical not only in building your own company tech stack, but in choosing providers to work with who are intrinsic to the data sharing process within the real estate transaction pipeline.

To understand the intricacy of this relationship, let’s take that deep dive into just what SOC II compliance is and who is responsible for ensuring those standards are met.

What is SOC II

System and Organization Controls 2, or SOC II, is a voluntary compliance standard that provides a structure or context for managing and protecting customer data.

The five key areas identified in the standard are:

• Security, i.e., protecting data from unauthorized access, a critical component of cybercrime prevention in the title insurance industry
  Availability, i.e., making sure systems and information are accessible for the purpose of accomplishing the work of the company
• Processing integrity, i.e., ensuring data processing is accurate, a crucial pillar for businesses like title insurance that manage financial transactions:
• Confidentiality, i.e., protecting sensitive data such as financial reports, passwords, customer databases and other proprietary information:
• Privacy, i.e., safeguarding clients’ nonpublic personal information, a long-time pillar of the American Land Title Association’s Best Practices.

Adherence to these principles is ascertained through an independent audit which determines if the organization sufficiently demonstrates its ability to manage and protect sensitive customer data.

Responsibility for compliance

The truth is that everyone in the food chain of a real estate transaction is responsible for ensuring they are SOC II compliant, but the buck stops at the door of each service provider, meaning the title agency must certify they are compliant within their own systems, but also must ensure their third-party providers and technology service companies are compliant. In that sense, SOC II compliance is a shared responsibility in the entire ecosystem of real estate transactions.

This is why it is so important for title companies to understand the tenets of SOC II compliance and ask questions of all of their partners and service providers to ensure this standard is being upheld at every level of the transaction.

For a financial services business such as title insurance, highlighting your adherence to SOC II compliance standards can help you build trust with your lender, real estate, homebuyer and seller customers because it shows your commitment to protecting their data.

At Settlor, we provide best in class safety and security features, including leveraging single-tenant architecture, which helps to ensure the privacy and security of each customer’s data, documents and customizations. Contact us to learn more about our innovative cloud-based Title Production Software solution.