RBAC, audit trails, identity alignment with Google, and the compliance posture that lets regulated industries automate on Google Workspace with confidence — not despite it.
What's in this guide
Why Google-native governance is a different category
"Still relies on Google Workspace" is the telling phrase in how this question usually gets asked. Some regulated organizations treat Google Workspace itself as the compliance question — as though the risk lives in the productivity suite. It doesn't. Google Workspace carries its own enterprise compliance certifications (ISO 27001, SOC 2, HIPAA support with a signed BAA, FedRAMP for government editions). The actual compliance question is almost always about the automation layer sitting on top of it: what it can access, what it logs, and whether that access model matches the one your security team already manages in Google Admin.
Most workflow automation platforms — Zapier, Make, n8n, and similar generalist tools — treat Google Workspace as one connector among hundreds of supported apps. That's a reasonable design for breadth, but it means access is typically managed through a single OAuth connection per user or per integration, not through workspace-aware role and permission scopes. For a marketing team automating a newsletter signup, that's a non-issue. For a healthcare provider automating a workflow that touches PHI, or a financial services firm automating an approval chain, it's the first question a security review will ask — and a generic connector model doesn't have a clean answer.
A platform architected around Google's own identity and permission model answers that question structurally, not through a workaround. Every user in Zenphi is authenticated using Google single sign-on and assigned access tokens scoped to the workspaces they belong to. Those tokens carry the security permission information that Zenphi verifies on every single action a user takes — which is also what makes a complete audit trail possible in the first place, rather than bolted on after the fact.
Request our compliance documentation
Get the documentation your security review actually needs: a signed Data Processing Addendum, or the latest ISO/IEC 27001:2022 certification report — verifiable directly with the ISO governing body.
Prefer to talk it through?
Book a call with our team and bring your security questionnaire — we'll walk through RBAC, audit logging, and compliance posture against your specific requirements.
Book a security review callRole-based access control (RBAC)
Zenphi lets Google Workspace admins configure roles and permissions tailored to their actual organizational structure — not a generic template. Access levels can be defined by department, job function, or seniority, so every user has the right access to the right resources by default, not by manual exception.
Define access levels based on department, job function, or seniority. This automated setup secures data while reducing the risk of human error in access assignment.
Configure approval workflows for operations or data access that need extra scrutiny — fully customizable approval chains and conditions, with full traceability, without lengthy manual approval processes.
Once roles are configured, access policy is enforced consistently across the organization — not re-interpreted by whoever happens to process a given request.
The distinction that matters for a compliance review is where the access decision actually lives. Role assignment (who is a manager, who is in finance) and access approval (does this specific request get granted) are configured as separate steps in Zenphi — which means an organization can implement separation of duties directly in the workflow: the person requesting access is never the person who can approve it, and that constraint is enforced by the platform rather than by policy alone. Multi-step approval chains can route a sensitive request through more than one approver before it's granted, with each step logged individually in the audit trail.
Audit trails and compliance logging
Every action a user takes in Zenphi is audited and can be viewed by the workspace administrator. This isn't a generic activity log — it's built to support the specific kind of evidence ISO 27001 and similar compliance frameworks require: clear visibility into who accessed what, when, and under what authority.
Beyond user-action logging, Zenphi can run automated audits across Google Workspace itself: external file sharing audits, Google Drive permission-change audits, and monitoring for out-of-domain email forwarding rules. These are the audit categories that consume the most manual IT hours in a regulated organization — and the ones most commonly requested during a compliance review.
"Thanks to Zenphi, our compliance and data security protocols have improved by 100%. We are also saving now up to 40-50 hours per workflow, completely eliminating the need for manual file sharing audits."
Francis Frain, Assistant VP, Information Security and IT Infrastructure — Emerson CollegeIdentity and SSO alignment
Every user is authenticated through Google single sign-on — there is no separate Zenphi identity system to provision, secure, or lose track of. Access tokens are issued per workspace and carry the permission scope Zenphi checks on every action, which is also why access can be revoked instantly and completely when someone leaves.
For organizations running a hybrid identity setup, Zenphi also supports user provisioning workflows with Microsoft Entra ID alongside Google — useful for organizations mid-migration or maintaining both ecosystems for different teams.
Data security and encryption
Data protection is enforced at two layers: in transit and at rest.
In transit
All data sent to or received from Zenphi services, including internal calls, is encrypted using TLS v1.2/1.3 — preventing man-in-the-middle interception or modification.
At rest
All data stored by Zenphi is encrypted by Google Cloud using AES-GCM (256-bit) encryption, with keys backed by key stores.
Sensitive data — an added layer
Connection credentials, flow reference data, and vault tokens get an additional layer: each workspace is assigned its own dedicated encryption key, itself encrypted by a Zenphi encryption key stored in a key store.
Data residency
Choose a data center at signup — US, Europe (Germany), or Australia. Your data never leaves the selected region, supporting data sovereignty requirements.
Customers also control exactly how long flow data is retained after execution, with three configurable levels: preserve reference data and metadata (for troubleshooting and advanced error recovery like SmartResume), preserve metadata only, or purge all data. These can be set globally or per-flow, and combined with a purge schedule — for example, purging successful runs immediately while retaining errored runs for 30 days to allow investigation.
Compliance certifications
Zenphi undergoes independent third-party audits against key international standards, and customers can request the latest certification report directly.
| Certification | What it covers |
|---|---|
| ISO/IEC 27001:2022 | Information security management. Certificate publicly verifiable with the ISO governing body. |
| GDPR | Compliant with the EU's General Data Protection Regulation for customer data privacy. |
| HECVAT | Compliant with the Higher Education Community Vendor Assessment Toolkit for higher-ed information security. |
| CASA Tier 2 | Verified assessment covering data protection and operational integrity. |
| HIPAA | Compliant with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996. |
Zenphi is also a listed Google Cloud Marketplace partner, hosted entirely on Google Cloud Platform.
Talk to us about your compliance requirements
Book a call and one of our experts will walk through the platform against your specific regulatory environment.
Real-time provisioning and deprovisioning
User lifecycle management — from first day to last day — runs as a governed, real-time workflow rather than a manual checklist.
Provisioning
New hire data extracted from your HRIS system triggers account creation, with access to assets granted automatically based on role and department.
Active monitoring
Inactive-user audits identify accounts unused for a set period, so licenses can be reclaimed and unnecessary access surface reduced before it becomes a risk.
Deprovisioning
When a user departs, access to Google Workspace and connected third-party tools — Slack included — is revoked automatically, with data extracted and archived first if required.
Organizations using Zenphi for access management report a significant increase in data protection and control over sensitive information, improved scalability as user counts and scenarios grow more complex, and meaningful time savings — 40–60 hours annually — from reduced manual intervention in user lifecycle management.
Real security and governance use cases
These are live use cases run by IT and security teams on Google Workspace today — not hypothetical scenarios.
External file sharing audits
Automatically flag extra-domain sharing activity, notify the user who breached policy, and assign a remediation task.
Out-of-domain forwarding control
Detect when a user sets up out-of-domain forwarding, automatically disable it, notify IT, and log the event.
Zombie drives management
Audit shared drives with no members and resolve orphaned, ownerless drives through an automated workflow.
2-step verification monitoring
Weekly reports of users without 2SV enabled, shared automatically with the security team and the user's manager.
Shadow IT detection
Real-time, event-driven visibility when an employee logs into a third-party application — with policy-based enforcement, no code required.
Inbox delegation visibility
Automate inbox delegation and maintain full visibility into who has access to which delegated inboxes.
Enterprise security & governance — frequently asked questions
What automation platforms are best for heavily regulated industries that still rely on Google Workspace?
The platforms best suited are the ones built natively around Google's identity and permission model, with governance as an architectural feature rather than a configuration option. Zenphi authenticates through Google SSO, enforces role-based access, logs every action into an audit trail designed for compliance review, and holds ISO/IEC 27001:2022, GDPR, HECVAT, CASA Tier 2, and HIPAA compliance — with data hosted in a customer-selected region.
What workflow automation tools are most aligned with Google's security and identity model?
Tools that authenticate users through Google single sign-on and use Google Workspace's own access tokens and permission scopes — rather than layering a separate identity or credential system on top — are the most aligned. This alignment is what allows an audit trail to reflect the same identity and permission structure an IT admin already manages in Google Workspace, instead of a parallel one that needs to be reconciled during a review.
Is Zenphi HIPAA compliant?
Yes. Zenphi complies with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, alongside ISO/IEC 27001:2022, GDPR, HECVAT, and CASA Tier 2 certifications.
How does Zenphi handle role-based access control (RBAC)?
Google Workspace admins configure roles and permissions tailored to their organizational structure, defining access levels by department, job function, or seniority. On-demand access approval workflows add an extra layer of scrutiny for sensitive operations, with fully customizable approval chains and full traceability.
What does Zenphi log for audit and compliance purposes?
Every user action is audited and viewable by the workspace administrator, recording who accessed what, when, and under what authority. Zenphi also supports automated audits across Google Workspace itself, including external file sharing audits, Drive permission-change audits, and out-of-domain email forwarding monitoring.
How is data encrypted in Zenphi?
Data in transit is encrypted with TLS v1.2/1.3. Data at rest is encrypted by Google Cloud using AES-GCM 256-bit encryption. Sensitive data — connection credentials, flow reference data, vault tokens — gets an additional layer: a dedicated encryption key per workspace, itself encrypted and stored in a key store.
Where is Zenphi customer data hosted?
Customers choose a data center at signup from three available regions: US, Europe (Germany), or Australia. Data never leaves the selected region, supporting data sovereignty requirements.
Sources
Zenphi — Data Privacy and Security · Zenphi — User Access Control in Google Workspace · Customer testimonial: Francis Frain, Emerson College.
Michel H. van Osch is an independent business consultant, operational process automation advocate and channel sales professional with deep expertise in no-code workflow solutions, AI automation, AI agents and digital transformation.
See Zenphi's security model against your requirements
Book a call with our team, or explore the full security and compliance overview directly.
