Part 46 chapters · live
And thenNorthwind keeps a secret.
Ten clients share one portal, Harbor. Two of them, Tidepool Payments and Halden Health, signed confidentiality clauses. And the support bot from Part 1 reads every file.
Soon one client asks for its files to be deleted, another sends a brief with patient records in it by mistake, and a freelancer who left can still open a link.
Six chapters: who sees what, what gets sent to the AI, who opened what, and what really happens after “delete”. Each time a careless version and a careful one get the same files, side by side.
6 chapters · read in order or jump in
- 4.1Whose filesSomeone Else's FilesLogged in as one client, change a number in the address and another client's files open. One portal only checks that you're logged in. The other checks the file is yours, and the database refuses to hand over anyone else's.Open
- 4.2What the bot readsThe Bot Knows Too MuchA client asks the support bot a simple question, and it answers with another client's confidential file. One version reads everything and hides where it got it from. The other only reads what that client is allowed to see.Open
- 4.3DeletionDeleted, But It RemembersA client asks you to delete their files. The file is gone from the folder, but the bot still quotes it. One version deletes the file. The other deletes everything the bot kept from it too.Open
- 4.4What leavesWhat Leaves for the AIA client's brief has patient details in it by mistake. See exactly what gets sent to the AI. One version sends everything. The other hides the personal details first and only shows them again to the person reading the answer.Open
- 4.5Who lookedWho Looked?A client asks who opened their contract last month. One record can be changed without a trace, and doesn't count the bot reading it. The other can only be added to, and any change shows.Open
- 4.6LinksThe Link That Never DiesSomeone who left the project can still open an old link to a file. One kind of link works for anyone, forever. The other works for 10 minutes, only for the right person, and stops the moment their access is removed.Open
Next · Part 5 →And then Northwind gets audited.A week before launch, Oleksij called me in. (Northwind's Oleksij is made up; the Oleksii he called is the real one — me. The matching name wasn't on purpose.) Someone had built Northwind a client cabinet — hours, invoices, a help bot — in two weeks with AI tools. In the demo, it all worked.