Accounts and projects.
Howl Engineering Ltd operates this HESYS trial. Contact info@howlengineering.com about your information.
Microsoft sign-in
Microsoft verifies your work account. HESYS receives your name, account address, tenant and account identifiers, and organisation membership information. We do not receive your Microsoft password. A secure, essential session cookie keeps you signed in for up to one hour. No marketing cookies are required.
Access and private storage
Account details and software entitlements are stored in private Microsoft Azure storage. Portal administrators can view registered account details and change client software access. Grant changes are recorded in an access audit trail. Settlement project files are stored separately under your account identifier and are not shared with other users by the application. Howl staff software access does not grant access to every client project. Infrastructure administrators retain operational access to hosted data.
Inspect document pilot
Inspect stores project names, references, client names and logos, site addresses and coordinates, member account identifiers, names and email addresses, uploaded PDF/image documents, revision labels and recent project-change history in private Azure storage. Files use a separate HESYS document container; they are not filed into Howl Engineering operational project folders. Project owners explicitly assign members, including members from other organisations where intended. Editors can upload and withdraw documents; viewers can download. An active Inspect entitlement and project membership are required for file access. Downloaded copies are controlled by their recipients and cannot be recalled by removing membership.
The optional project assistant sends documents selected for processing to Microsoft Azure Document Intelligence OCR, and sends questions with relevant document excerpts to the configured Azure AI model. The project owner chooses the document revisions used for answers. Extracted text is stored privately alongside project metadata. New questions, answers, authors, timestamps and source references are retained in private project history and shared with assigned project members. Answers are hidden from ordinary access if a source document is withdrawn or changed. Technical usage counters and request identifiers are retained. Azure service processing and retention rules also apply. The pilot does not automatically malware-scan uploaded documents. Use your organisation’s approved checking tools before using downloaded files. Withdrawing a document removes it from ordinary project access but retains the stored copy until administrator-assisted deletion. Recent activity shows the latest 200 project changes; it is not a complete compliance audit archive.
Site photos and daily reports
Inspect also stores original uploaded site photos (which may contain camera or location metadata), captions, capture and upload times, authors, daily report drafts and fixed submitted reports with linked photos. All assigned project members can view these records and saved project answers; owners and editors can upload photos and edit drafts. Submitted reports cannot be overwritten through the application. These records remain until administrator-assisted deletion. The website requires a network connection to save; native iPhone offline storage and syncing must be implemented and tested separately.
Optional site map
The interactive map loads only when you select “Load interactive map”. Your browser then requests map tiles from OpenStreetMap, sharing your IP address and the viewed map area with that provider. Client names, logos and project documents are not sent to the map provider. Use the saved coordinates and uploaded plans without loading the map for confidential locations. Map tiles are provided on a best-effort basis and are not an offline service.
Retention and requests
Projects, account records and access history remain stored until removed through an administrator-assisted process. Keep portable .hesys backups. Contact Howl Engineering to request access, correction or deletion, or discuss retention requirements before uploading confidential project data. Expired session records are scheduled for deletion after one day. Azure service logs may retain technical request information.