compliance

Industry Compliance

If you're building for healthcare, finance, education, or any regulated industry, there are rules about how you handle data. You probably already know the regulations from your professional life — but you don't know what they mean for software. This skill translates compliance requirements into concrete technical decisions.

This skill is for understanding what regulations mean for your tech stack. For implementing security controls (auth, encryption, rate limiting), use secure. For writing legal documents (ToS, Privacy Policy), use legal. For payment processing and PCI, use payments.

Disclaimer: This skill covers common compliance patterns. It is not legal advice. Consult a compliance specialist for your specific situation, especially before handling sensitive data in production.

Core Principles

• Compliance is not optional in regulated industries. Getting it wrong can kill your business.
• Most compliance requirements boil down to: who can see data, how is it stored, and what happens when something goes wrong.
• The right tech stack choices handle 80% of compliance for you. Don't reinvent the wheel.
• Compliance is cheaper to build in from the start than to retrofit later.
• You don't need SOC 2 certification at $0 MRR. But you do need to make decisions now that don't block certification later.

Don't Do Yet

• Don't pay for a SOC 2 audit ($15K-50K) until enterprise customers require it. Just follow the practices.
• Don't hire a compliance officer. A one-time consultation ($1K-5K) is enough until $10K+ MRR.
• Don't build compliance features nobody asked for. Cookie consent is required. A full data governance dashboard is not — yet.
• Don't use compliance as a reason to delay launch. Make compliant tech choices, launch, then iterate. Perfection is the enemy of shipped.

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Find Your Requirements

Tell AI:

I'm building a SaaS product for [industry/profession].
My product handles this type of data: [describe the data — patient records, student info, financial transactions, etc.]
My users are in: [countries/regions]

What compliance requirements apply to me?
For each one, tell me:
1. What it is (one sentence)
2. Whether I need it before launch or can add it later
3. What it means for my tech stack (specific technical requirements)
4. Whether I need a certification/audit or just need to follow the rules

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Compliance by Industry

Healthcare (HIPAA)

Applies when: Your software stores, processes, or transmits Protected Health Information (PHI) — patient names, conditions, treatment records, billing info tied to health data.

What it means for your tech stack:

Requirement	What to Do
Data encryption at rest	Use a database that encrypts stored data (Supabase, AWS RDS with encryption enabled)
Data encryption in transit	HTTPS everywhere (all modern hosting does this)
Access controls	Role-based access, audit logs of who accessed what
Business Associate Agreement (BAA)	Your hosting and database provider must sign one. Not all do.
Audit trail	Log every access to PHI: who, when, what
Minimum necessary	Only show users the data they need for their role
Breach notification	Have a plan for what happens if data leaks

Hosting that offers BAAs:

• AWS (free tier eligible)
• Google Cloud
• Microsoft Azure
• Supabase (on Team plan and above)
• Render (on request)
• Heroku (enterprise)

Hosting that does NOT offer BAAs (don't use for PHI):

• Vercel (no BAA available)
• Netlify (no BAA available)
• Railway (no BAA currently)
• Free tiers of most services

Tell AI:

I'm building a healthcare SaaS that stores [type of health data].
Set up the tech stack for HIPAA compliance:
- Database: needs encryption at rest and BAA support
- Hosting: needs BAA support
- Auth: role-based access with audit logging
- Add an audit log table that tracks every PHI access
- Ensure all API endpoints require authentication
- No PHI in URL parameters, logs, or error messages

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Finance (PCI-DSS, SOC 2)

PCI-DSS applies when: You handle credit card numbers directly.

The shortcut: Use Stripe. Stripe handles PCI compliance for you. Never store card numbers in your database. Never let card numbers touch your server. Use Stripe Elements or Checkout — the card data goes directly from the user's browser to Stripe, bypassing your server entirely.

If you use Stripe correctly, PCI is handled. See payments skill for implementation.

SOC 2 applies when: Enterprise customers ask for it (usually $50K+ deals). You don't need it at launch.

Plan for SOC 2 later by doing these now:

• Use a reputable hosting provider (AWS, GCP, Azure)
• Enable logging and audit trails
• Use SSO/OAuth for authentication (not custom auth)
• Document your security practices
• See secure skill for security checklist

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Education (FERPA)

Applies when: Your software handles student education records — grades, enrollment, disciplinary records, financial aid.

Requirement	What to Do
Written consent for disclosure	Parents/students must consent before you share their data
Access controls	Only authorized school officials see student records
Directory information opt-out	Students can opt out of directory info sharing
Data minimization	Only collect what you need
Audit trail	Track who accessed student records

Tell AI:

I'm building an edtech product that handles [type of student data].
Set up FERPA-compliant data handling:
- Role-based access: [teacher, admin, student, parent] with different data visibility
- Consent tracking: record when parents/students consented to data use
- Audit log for all access to student records
- Data export and deletion capability (for student/parent requests)
- No student data in analytics, logs, or error tracking

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Real Estate

Less regulated technically, but watch for:

• Fair Housing Act: marketing and algorithms must not discriminate by protected classes
• State licensing requirements: some states regulate real estate software
• MLS data rules: if you use MLS data, each MLS has its own terms of use
• Wire fraud prevention: if your tool touches transactions, security is critical (real estate wire fraud is a $400M+/year problem)

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Legal

Attorney-client privilege considerations:

• Client communications stored in your software may be privileged
• Use encryption at rest and in transit
• Access controls: only authorized users see case data
• Data residency: some jurisdictions require data stored locally
• Bar association ethics opinions may apply to cloud storage of client files

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General (Everyone)

GDPR (if you have EU users):

Requirement	What to Do
Consent before collecting data	Cookie consent banner, clear privacy policy
Right to access	Users can request all their data
Right to deletion	Users can request data deletion ("right to be forgotten")
Data portability	Users can export their data in a standard format
Privacy by design	Only collect data you actually need
Breach notification	Notify authorities within 72 hours of a breach

Tell AI:

Add GDPR compliance features to our app:
- Cookie consent banner that blocks tracking until consent is given
- "Download my data" feature in account settings (export as JSON/CSV)
- "Delete my account" feature that actually deletes all user data
- Privacy policy page explaining what data we collect and why
- Data processing records (log what data we collect, why, and how long we keep it)

CCPA/CPRA (if you have California users): Similar to GDPR. The main additional requirement is a "Do Not Sell My Personal Information" link.

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Compliance Checklist (Before Launch)

Minimum for any SaaS:
- [ ] Privacy policy published
- [ ] Terms of service published
- [ ] HTTPS on all pages (usually automatic with modern hosting)
- [ ] Passwords hashed (never stored in plain text)
- [ ] No sensitive data in logs, URLs, or error messages
- [ ] User data export capability
- [ ] User data deletion capability
- [ ] Cookie consent if you use analytics/tracking

Add if regulated industry:
- [ ] Identified which regulations apply to your data
- [ ] Hosting provider supports required compliance (BAA, certifications)
- [ ] Encryption at rest enabled on database
- [ ] Role-based access controls implemented
- [ ] Audit log tracking data access
- [ ] Breach notification plan documented
- [ ] Consulted a compliance specialist for your specific situation

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When to Get Professional Help

Stage	What to Do
Pre-launch	Read this skill. Make compliant tech stack choices.
First paying customers	Get a compliance consultant to review your setup (one-time, $1K-5K)
$10K+ MRR or enterprise customers	Consider formal certification (SOC 2 audit: $15K-50K)
Handling highly sensitive data (PHI, financial)	Consult before launch, not after

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Common Mistakes

Mistake	Fix
Ignoring compliance until an enterprise customer asks	Make compliant tech choices from day 1 — it's free
Storing credit card numbers in your database	Use Stripe. Card data never touches your server.
Using a hosting provider without a BAA for healthcare data	Check BAA availability before choosing your stack
"We'll add compliance later" for regulated data	Retrofitting compliance is 10x more expensive than building it in
Over-investing in certification at $0 MRR	You need compliant practices, not a $50K audit, until you have enterprise customers
Putting sensitive data in error logs or analytics	Scrub PII from all logging. This is the most common compliance violation.

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Related Skills

• secure — Technical security implementation (OWASP, auth, API protection)
• legal — Business entity, Terms of Service, Privacy Policy
• database — Schema design with RLS and audit trails
• deploy — Hosting selection with compliance in mind
• payments — Stripe setup (handles PCI compliance for you)