Durable Workflow Orchestration
Temporal Cloud security/procurement checklist: what data is stored, how is it encrypted, and what compliance docs are available?
7 min read
Security reviews shouldn’t be scavenger hunts. If you’re evaluating Temporal Cloud, you need a clear checklist: what data the service actually stores, how it’s encrypted, and which compliance and security documents are available for your risk and procurement teams.
Quick Answer: Temporal Cloud stores Workflow execution metadata and event histories, not your application code or sensitive business payloads; all data in transit is encrypted, data at rest is encrypted with keys you control for payloads, and we provide formal security and privacy documentation to support your procurement and compliance process.
Frequently Asked Questions
What data does Temporal Cloud actually store about my Workflows?
Short Answer: Temporal Cloud stores Workflow execution histories, metadata, and task information—but your Workflows and Activities (your code) run in your environment, and the service never needs your business data in clear text.
Expanded Explanation:
Temporal is a Durable Execution engine, not a code host. Workflows and Activities are compiled and deployed as part of your own application, on your infrastructure. Temporal Cloud runs the control plane: it persists event histories, task queues, and Workflow state transitions so your code can always resume from the last known good point after crashes, timeouts, or outages.
All connections from your Workers (your code) to Temporal Cloud are outbound and unidirectional. That means you don’t open inbound firewall ports to use the service. Application payloads that you choose to send to Temporal can be encrypted using your own encryption library and keys before leaving your network; the Temporal Service never needs access to this data in clear text to coordinate execution.
Key Takeaways:
- Temporal Cloud stores durable execution history and metadata, not your code.
- You control what payload data you send and can encrypt it end-to-end with your own keys.
How is data protected in transit and at rest in Temporal Cloud?
Short Answer: All data between your environment and Temporal Cloud is encrypted in transit, and data stored by the service is encrypted at rest; for sensitive payloads, you can also encrypt at the application layer so the service never sees clear-text data.
Expanded Explanation:
Every call from your Workers to Temporal Cloud uses encrypted channels, so event histories, commands, and payloads are protected as they leave your environment. This is the baseline: Temporal Cloud is “secure by design” with encryption on all data transfer.
At rest, Temporal Cloud encrypts stored Workflow histories, metadata, and related persistence. If you have regulatory or internal-security requirements that certain fields never appear in clear text outside your environment (for example, PANs, account numbers, or PHI), you can encrypt those payloads before serialization using your own encryption libraries and keys. The Temporal Service stores and replays these payloads as opaque blobs; it never needs to decrypt them to drive Workflow state.
Steps:
- Establish encrypted connections from your Workers to Temporal Cloud (standard SDK configuration).
- Enable or rely on encryption at rest in Temporal Cloud for persisted Workflow data.
- Optionally encrypt sensitive payloads in your application using your own keys so Temporal only ever stores ciphertext.
How is Temporal Cloud different from a service that runs or sees my code?
Short Answer: Temporal Cloud runs the control plane for Workflow execution; your code runs in Workers on your own infrastructure, and either way, we never see your code.
Expanded Explanation:
Without Temporal, you tend to centralize everything in a platform that coordinates and sometimes executes your business logic. That can blur boundaries: the vendor may host your code, see clear-text data, and require inbound access to your systems.
With Temporal Cloud, the boundary is strict. The Temporal Service:
- Stores and manages event histories.
- Schedules Activities and Workflows via task queues.
- Handles timers, retries, and signals.
Your environment:
- Hosts all Workflows and Activities as part of your services.
- Owns your code, business logic, and application runtime.
- Controls any encryption keys used to protect payloads.
Connections from app to service are unidirectional. You never open up the firewall for Temporal to call into your network.
Comparison Snapshot:
- Option A: Traditional hosted workflow engine: Often runs or hosts your code, may see clear-text data, and sometimes requires inbound connectivity.
- Option B: Temporal Cloud Durable Execution: Runs only the coordination layer, never sees your code, and can treat your payloads as opaque, encrypted blobs.
- Best for: Teams that want cloud convenience for reliability, but keep code and sensitive data under their control.
What does my security/procurement team need to integrate Temporal Cloud?
Short Answer: You’ll need a clear picture of your data flows, your encryption strategy, and access to Temporal’s security and privacy documentation; from there, your team can map Temporal Cloud into existing risk, legal, and networking controls.
Expanded Explanation:
Most security reviews for Temporal Cloud focus on three topics: data boundaries, encryption, and connectivity. Your team will want to confirm that Temporal doesn’t run your code, understand what minimal metadata is stored, and verify that all traffic is encrypted. They’ll also want to see how Temporal handles personal data in the context of our website and commercial relationship, governed by our Privacy Policy and security practices.
From an implementation standpoint, your operators will configure Workers to connect outbound to Temporal Cloud, set up authentication, and optionally layer on application-level encryption. No special inbound firewall rules are required. For compliance and legal, you can reference Temporal’s public security page and privacy documentation, and work with us directly if you need additional assurances or contract language.
What You Need:
- A documented architecture showing Workers on your infrastructure, outbound-only connections, and Temporal Cloud as the control plane.
- Access to Temporal’s security and privacy documentation (for example, temporal.io/security and our Privacy Policy) to support internal risk and procurement review.
How does Temporal Cloud support compliance, privacy, and data-protection requirements?
Short Answer: Temporal Cloud is designed to minimize data exposure, encrypts data in transit and at rest, and is supported by documented security and privacy practices—including Standard Contractual Clauses for relevant international data transfers.
Expanded Explanation:
Compliance is easier when your platform doesn’t need to see much in the first place. Temporal Cloud’s model—your code and Workers on your infrastructure, encrypted connections, and optional application-layer encryption for payloads—limits the amount of business data the service ever touches.
For personal data, Temporal Technologies applies industry-accepted security standards to protect information from accidental loss and unauthorized access, use, alteration, or disclosure. For transfers involving European residents’ data to service providers in countries not deemed adequate by the European Commission, Temporal uses European Commission–approved Standard Contractual Clauses and UK ICO–approved International Data Transfer Addendums.
As with any cloud service, some aspects of security remain your responsibility. You must safeguard your authentication credentials and passwords, control access to your devices and systems, and sign out of web interfaces when you’re done. Temporal’s documentation and security team can help your compliance and legal teams map these shared responsibilities into your existing controls.
Why It Matters:
- Strong default protections (encryption, limited data exposure, SCCs/IDTAs) help satisfy regulatory and cross-border data-transfer requirements.
- Clear responsibility boundaries let you integrate Temporal Cloud into your existing security and compliance program without re-architecting your risk model.
Quick Recap
Temporal Cloud gives you Durable Execution as a managed control plane while keeping your Workflows and Activities—your code—on your own infrastructure. The service stores Workflow execution histories and metadata, encrypts all data in transit and at rest, and can treat your payloads as fully opaque ciphertext if you encrypt them with your own keys. We back this design with documented security and privacy practices, including European Commission–approved Standard Contractual Clauses and UK ICO–approved International Data Transfer Addendums, so your security and procurement teams can complete their checklist with confidence.