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Secure File Transfer

Batch files are delivered to a private, encrypted Amazon S3 location that Surfside provisions for your account. It is the route for recurring feeds and large files. For a one-off upload, the Cleanroom UI in the Surfside app does the same job without credentials. See Uploading Data to Surfside's Cleanroom.

Only durable identifiers travel this way: email and phone, mobile device IDs and your customer ID. Cookie IDs are not accepted in batch files. PII, if included, does not need to be hashed as we cleanse and anonymize all customer data as part of the onboarding process. If you prefer to hash before sending, follow Hashing Identifiers exactly so your hashes match ours.

Credentials​

S3 credentials are issued when your Surfside account is created. If you do not have them, or are unsure which credentials belong to which account, contact your Surfside representative. Store them in your secrets manager rather than in the export script itself, and let us know if they need to be rotated.

What happens to your file​

  1. You upload a file that follows the Batch Upload File Format to your S3 location.
  2. The file is mirrored through a firewall into the Surfside processing environment and securely deleted from S3 once processed.
  3. Personal identifiers are hashed, matched to Surfside IDs through the identity graph and discarded. Your customer ID and attributes are attached to the matched Surfside IDs.
  4. The audience appears in the Surfside platform, ready for activation, enrichment and closed loop measurement.

If you want your files encrypted at rest before they reach us, encrypt each one with our public PGP key before upload. Your Surfside representative can supply the key.

Refresh schedule​

Upload on the cadence agreed at setup: daily is recommended, and weekly, monthly or one-time feeds are supported. Each file is either a full refresh or a delta of changed records. Batch Upload File Format describes both. Changing the cadence, the file type or the column set is a change to your audience, so tell your Customer Success manager first.

Before you upload​

  • The file passes the checklist at the end of Batch Upload File Format.
  • The file name follows Partner-YYYYMMDD-dataset.csv, with .gz if compressed.
  • Only onboarding files are in the bucket. Nothing else belongs there.
  • You have told your Customer Success manager about the first file so they can confirm it processed as expected.