Optional
Off by default. An administrator turns it on for one installation at a time.
Cloud reporting overview
This page explains what cloud reporting is, how it works, and what it sends. Read it before you decide whether to turn it on, or before you talk to the person who will commission it for your organisation.
What it is
Section titled “What it is”Cloud reporting is an optional feature. When it is on, BioTrack sends a copy of your attendance records to your organisation’s cloud service. It lives in Settings → Cloud reporting, which describes it this way: optional, sends attendance to your organisation’s cloud service, and saves attendance on this computer first so a cloud outage never loses scans.
BioTrack works fully without it. If you never turn it on, nothing is sent anywhere.
Key properties
Section titled “Key properties”This computer stays authoritative
Every scan is saved to the encrypted database on this computer first. The cloud copy never replaces it.
Outages lose nothing
If the cloud or the internet is unavailable, records wait on this computer and are sent when delivery works again.
Signed by this installation
Each delivery is signed with a key that is created on this computer and never leaves it.
Limited data
Only a fixed list of attendance fields is sent. Passwords, terminal credentials and biometric data are never sent.
Retention you choose
Your organisation’s cloud data is kept for 1, 3, 5 or 7 years, then deleted automatically.
Who sets it up
Section titled “Who sets it up”Two people are usually involved:
- A BioTrack administrator at your site. Only an administrator can change cloud reporting. Other users can open the page and see the delivery state, but they see the note Only an administrator can change cloud reporting.
- Your commissioner. This is the person who runs your organisation’s cloud service, often an Alcra engineer. They register your organisation and site in the cloud and give you a one-time activation code.
The administrator’s steps are in Connect and activate. The commissioner’s steps are in Commissioning the cloud service.
How it works
Section titled “How it works”Cloud reporting has three parts.
- An outbox on this computer. Whenever BioTrack saves something that belongs in the cloud copy, such as a scan or a leave record, it also writes an entry to a waiting list inside the local database, in the same step. This happens whether cloud reporting is on or not, so nothing is missed.
- Signed batches. The BioTrack collector service checks the outbox every 30 seconds. It sends waiting entries in small batches, each signed with this installation’s private key. An entry is marked as sent only when the cloud confirms it received the whole batch.
- Your organisation’s cloud service. A Cloudflare Worker checks the signature, checks every field, and stores the records in a Cloudflare D1 database that belongs to your organisation’s cloud account. It works out which organisation and site the records belong to from the installation’s registration, not from anything the computer claims.
Because the collector does the sending, delivery carries on while the BioTrack window is closed.
What gets sent
Section titled “What gets sent”| Record | What it contains |
|---|---|
| Attendance events | Each employee scan: the ID on the terminal, the employee’s name, the event type, when it happened and when BioTrack received it, and the terminal name if known. |
| Calendar overrides | A date marked as a working day or a non-working day, with its name. |
| Leave and leave revocations | Leave entered for an employee, and leave that was later withdrawn, with the reason. |
| Attendance corrections | An audited change to a day’s attendance, with the reason and the day’s result before and after. Original scans are never changed. |
Records made by a BioTrack user, such as corrections or leave, carry that user’s local numeric ID so the cloud has an audit trail.
What is never sent
Section titled “What is never sent”- Fingerprint, face or other biometric templates, images or media
- BioTrack user passwords, password hashes or sessions
- Terminal usernames and passwords
- Recovery passphrases or other recovery secrets
- The raw requests the terminal sends to BioTrack
- This installation’s private signing key
The cloud service rejects any batch that contains unexpected fields or field names that look like credentials or biometric data. See Data and retention for details.
Next steps
Section titled “Next steps” Connect and activate Turn on cloud reporting for this installation.
Sync status Read the delivery strip and know what to do when it retries.