Security at Roost
Your household admin contains some of your most sensitive information: policy numbers, account details, emergency contacts. Here is exactly how we protect it. If you are still deciding where to keep all of it, we compared the best life admin apps in the UK and how each one handles your data.
Personal items are end-to-end encrypted
Items you keep private are encrypted on your device before they leave it. The contents stay unreadable to us: the name, the provider, the account or policy number, the cost, the phone number, your notes and the emergency details. Nobody can read those without your key. This applies to all vault items, tasks, lists, notes and routines you mark as personal.
What we can still see, and why
Three things are left readable on purpose, because a reminder cannot be sent about something we cannot see. Which category a vault item is, so a car reminder can say car. The renewal date on it, so we know when to tell you. And the title of a task, so a due-date reminder can name it. That is the whole list. We can tell that something of yours renews on 3 May. We cannot tell what it is called, who it is with, or what it costs.
Shared items use server-side encryption with row-level security
When you share an item with your household, it is encrypted at rest in our database. Row-level security policies mean that only the people you have explicitly shared with can query that data, at the database level, not just at the application level.
No passwords
Roost uses one-time codes sent to your email, and Sign in with Apple on iOS. There is no password to phish, leak, or forget.
Two-factor, two ways
App-based authenticator codes with a QR setup, or SMS. Roost asks for a step-up check when a session needs it.
Optional app lock
Enable Face ID, Touch ID or passcode lock on the iOS app so the app requires authentication to open, even if your phone is unlocked.
Losing your phone does not mean losing your data
End-to-end encryption comes with a six-digit recovery PIN, set when you enable it. Your private items stay recoverable by you, and only you, even with a new phone.
Infrastructure
Roost is built on Supabase (Postgres with row-level security) and hosted on Vercel. Both operate under SOC 2 Type II certification. Your data is stored in the EU.
Account deletion
Any user can permanently delete their account and all associated data from Settings. This removes everything stored in Roost: vault items, tasks, lists, notes, routines and household links.
What Ask Roost sends off your phone
Asking a question is the one moment a private item is decrypted. The titles, dates and costs relevant to that question are unlocked on your phone and sent to answer it, never the contents of your notes. Roost keeps none of it: we record which feature ran and what it cost, and nothing else. More on how that works on the Ask Roost page.
Questions about any of this? There is live chat in the app and on this site, and a real person replies.
Or email hello@getroost.io.