API Certification Program : Service Compliance and Sovereignty in 2026
Security

API Certification Program : Service Compliance and Sovereignty in 2026

Discover how ApyHub’s API Certification Program provides clear data handling, retention, and compliance info to help developers build secure, compliant apps.
API Certification Program : Service Compliance and Sovereignty in 2026
NI
Nikolas Dimitroulakis
Last updated on December 03, 2025

Why Transparency and Data Sovereignty Matter for API Integrations — Introducing ApyHub’s API Certification Program

Introduction

As developers and architects, integrating third-party APIs is a daily reality. APIs help us build faster, connect services, and deliver features without reinventing the wheel. But beneath the convenience lies a challenge that often slows us down: a lack of clear, accessible information about how these APIs handle our data.
When you connect your app to an external service, you’re not just sending requests and receiving responses. You’re entrusting your data to unknown hands — and that comes with serious questions:
  • Where exactly is my data stored?
  • How long is it kept?
  • Who else has access to it?
  • What security standards does the API provider meet?
  • Are there any third parties involved behind the scenes?
  • How do I stay compliant with regional regulations like GDPR or CCPA?
Without solid answers, you face risks — both technical and legal. It can mean delayed projects as you dig through opaque documentation or audit reports. It can lead to unintentional compliance violations that expose your company to penalties. And it increases the attack surface of your application, as you don’t fully understand who else handles your data.

Data Sovereignty Is a Real Concern

One of the toughest challenges is data sovereignty, the principle that data is subject to the laws of the country where it’s stored. For example, under GDPR, personal data of EU citizens must be stored and processed within approved regions unless specific safeguards are in place.
If an API stores your data outside these approved regions without your knowledge, your app’s compliance is at risk. And because many APIs rely on cloud providers or third-party services in various locations, tracing data storage without transparency can be nearly impossible.

Retention Policies and Their Impact on Compliance and Security

Different APIs have varying data retention policies. Some might keep your input data only briefly, while others may log all requests and responses for weeks or months. Metadata like timestamps, request IDs, or usage stats may be stored separately and for different durations.
These retention details matter because:
  • They affect how long user data remains in the system, which impacts compliance.
  • Long retention periods can increase risk if the API or its infrastructure is compromised.
Knowing the exact retention policies helps you design your own systems to respect user privacy and regulatory requirements.

The Hidden Complexity of Third-Party Services

APIs rarely operate in isolation. Many rely on other services — cloud storage, analytics platforms, or security tools to function. But if these third-party connections aren’t disclosed, you’re left in the dark about potential data access points.
Understanding which external providers are involved is crucial to:
  • Assess the overall security posture.
  • Identify additional compliance requirements.
  • Know which regions data might travel through or be stored in.

What About Security Certifications?

Certifications like GDPR, SOC 2, and ISO 27001 aren’t just buzzwords. They represent rigorous audits and standards compliance that verify an API provider’s approach to data protection, risk management, and operational security.
  • GDPR focuses on data privacy for EU citizens, requiring strict controls over personal data.
  • SOC 2 assesses an organization’s controls around security, availability, processing integrity, confidentiality, and privacy. It’s especially important for SaaS and cloud providers.
  • ISO 27001 is an international standard for information security management systems (ISMS), detailing how organizations protect data systematically.
Knowing if these certifications are valid, including their issue and expiry dates, helps you trust the API beyond just marketing claims.

How ApyHub’s API Certification Program Addresses These Challenges

The idea and the vision is simple: We wanted to built the certification program to provide developers, architects, and security teams with clear, standardized, and actionable information about the third party APIs that they connect to:
  • Data Storage Location: See the exact country where your data lives, helping you enforce data sovereignty rules.
  • Data Retention Details: Understand how long input data, output data, logs, and metadata are kept.
  • Third-Party Services: Know every external party involved in data processing or storage.
  • Compliance Certifications: View current certifications with valid start and end dates — no guesswork needed.
  • Privacy Policies: Access official documentation quickly without hunting for buried legal pages.
We believe that its this level of transparency that can really empower developers to make more confident integration decisions and at the same time reduce risk, and save time in compliance reviews.

Why This Matters for Developers and Security Folks

  • Faster Due Diligence: Spend less time piecing together incomplete information.
  • Clear Risk Assessments: Evaluate security and privacy exposure with a full picture of data flows.
  • Regulatory Alignment: Build applications that respect regional data laws from the ground up.
  • Improved Trust: Provide your users with assurances that their data is handled responsibly.
  • Simplified Audits: Have standardized information ready for compliance teams and auditors.

Conclusion

API Integrations are about the functionality. But its also about trust, security, and respecting user privacy. Transparency around how APIs handle data and where they are stored, about who accesses it are no longer some nice to haves, they are fundamental elements of modern software architecture.
By bringing this transparency to the forefront, ApyHub’s API Certification Program aims to make it easier for developers and architects to build secure, compliant, and trustworthy applications, without the guesswork.
If this resonates with the challenges you face, check out our certified APIs to see transparency in action.

FAQ — ApyHub API Certification Program

1. What is the ApyHub API Certification Program?
It’s a transparency initiative designed to provide developers and architects with clear, standardized information about how APIs handle data — including storage locations, retention periods, third-party involvement, privacy policies, and compliance certifications.
2. Why does API transparency matter for developers?
When you integrate an API, you’re trusting that service with your data. Transparency helps you understand how your data is stored, protected, and shared, which is critical for security, compliance, and building trustworthy applications. Without clear info, you risk compliance violations, security gaps, and project delays.
3. What is data sovereignty, and why should I care?
Data sovereignty means that data is subject to the laws and regulations of the country where it’s physically stored. For example, the EU’s GDPR requires personal data of EU residents to be stored and processed within specific jurisdictions unless safeguards are in place. Knowing data location helps ensure your app complies with these laws.
4. What kind of data retention information is disclosed?
We provide detailed retention info for different data types:
  • Input Data Retention: How long the data you send to the API is kept.
  • Output Data Retention: How long the API response data is stored.
  • Overall Retention Period: The total time any data (logs, metadata, etc.) remains stored.
  • Metadata Retention: How long data about data (like request IDs, timestamps) is retained.
This helps you understand the lifecycle of your data and design compliant, secure systems.
5. Who are third-party services, and why does their involvement matter?
Third-party services are external providers that APIs use for storage, analytics, security, or other functions. Their involvement can introduce additional privacy and security considerations. Transparency about these parties lets you assess risks, ensure compliance, and better protect your users’ data.
6. What compliance certifications do you support, and what do they mean?
GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation): A European regulation that protects personal data and privacy of EU citizens. Compliance means strict controls on data handling, user consent, and data breach notifications.
SOC 2 (System and Organization Controls 2): An auditing standard for service providers that assesses security, availability, processing integrity, confidentiality, and privacy of customer data. It’s widely recognized in the tech industry for cloud and SaaS services.
ISO/IEC 27001: An international standard for information security management systems (ISMS), focusing on systematic risk management and protection of information assets.
These certifications demonstrate that an API provider meets rigorous security and privacy standards.
7. How do certification start and end dates impact me?
Certifications have validity periods to ensure ongoing compliance. Knowing the start and end dates helps you verify that the API’s security claims are current and that the provider is actively maintaining standards, not relying on outdated certifications.
8. What if some information is not available for an API?
We clearly mark any unavailable details as “Not Disclosed” or “Not Applicable” to maintain honesty and transparency. We encourage API providers to keep their information up to date for full transparency.
9. How often is the certification information updated?
We aim to keep all data current and plan to implement real-time updates as APIs evolve, ensuring you always have the latest info for your risk assessments and integration decisions.
10. Can API providers request certification or update their details?
Yes, API providers can participate by submitting accurate data and working with ApyHub to maintain transparency standards. This collaboration helps the entire developer community benefit from consistent, reliable API information.
11. How does this program help with regulatory compliance?
By providing clear info on data storage locations, retention policies, and certifications, the program helps you assess if an API fits your compliance requirements — like GDPR, CCPA, or industry-specific regulations — reducing the risk of violations and fines.
12. Where can I find certified APIs on ApyHub?
Certified APIs are clearly marked within the ApyHub marketplace. You can filter or explore APIs to see their certification status, detailed data handling disclosures, and compliance info.
13. Does the certification program cover all APIs on ApyHub?
Yes. We are continuously expanding the coverage. Many APIs are already certified with detailed transparency info, and we work to onboard more providers as part of our commitment to raising API transparency standards.