Flexport Data Handling

Flexport Data Handling

Overview

Flexport logistics data encompasses shipment records, bills of lading, customs declarations, commercial invoices, tracking events, and trade compliance documents. This data crosses international borders and regulatory jurisdictions, requiring strict handling for PII (shipper/consignee contacts), controlled export data (HS codes, ITAR items), and financial records (invoices, duty payments). All integrations must enforce GDPR/CCPA compliance, customs data retention mandates, and C-TPAT supply chain security standards.

Prerequisites

• A documented data inventory, authorized processing purpose, owners, destination allowlist, retention/deletion schedule, and legal review where required.
• Encryption, access control, redaction, and secure-evidence procedures appropriate to each classified data type.

Instructions

1. Minimize imports to approved fields and process sensitive records only in authorized systems.
2. Enforce access and retention at every storage and downstream handoff; use opaque IDs in diagnostics.
3. Test mappings with fictional data, reconcile only approved aggregate values, and obtain owner approval before cutover.
4. Quarantine unknown fields, unapproved destinations, and retention conflicts for review instead of forwarding them.

Output

Create a processing receipt with source reference, field classification, approved destination, retention rule, aggregate validation outcome, owner, and exception state. Keep source payloads, documents, addresses, and credentials outside the receipt.

Examples

Transform a fictional shipment containing invented contact and product data using a field allowlist. Confirm the destination receives only approved fields, logs contain an opaque ID and aggregate counts, and the test data is removed on the defined schedule.

Data Classification

Data Import

interface FlexportShipment {
  id: string; ref: string; status: string;
  shipper: { name: string; email: string; address: string };
  consignee: { name: string; email: string; address: string };
  hsCode: string; incoterm: string; cargoReadyDate: string;
}

async function importShipments(cursor?: string): Promise<FlexportShipment[]> {
  const allShipments: FlexportShipment[] = [];
  let nextCursor = cursor;
  do {
    const res = await fetch(`https://api.flexport.com/v2/shipments?page[after]=${nextCursor || ''}`, {
      headers: { Authorization: `Bearer ${process.env.FLEXPORT_API_TOKEN}` },
    });
    const data = await res.json();
    for (const s of data.data) {
      if (!s.id || !s.attributes.ref) throw new Error(`Invalid shipment: missing required fields`);
      allShipments.push(s.attributes);
    }
    nextCursor = data.links?.next ? new URL(data.links.next).searchParams.get('page[after]') : null;
  } while (nextCursor);
  return allShipments;
}

Data Export

async function exportShipmentsCSV(shipments: FlexportShipment[], dest: string) {
  const REDACT_FIELDS = ['email', 'phone', 'street_address', 'tax_id'];
  const sanitized = shipments.map(s => {
    const copy = JSON.parse(JSON.stringify(s));
    for (const field of REDACT_FIELDS) {
      if (copy.shipper?.[field]) copy.shipper[field] = '[REDACTED]';
      if (copy.consignee?.[field]) copy.consignee[field] = '[REDACTED]';
    }
    return copy;
  });
  // Validate no restricted HS codes in export payload
  const restricted = sanitized.filter(s => s.hsCode?.startsWith('9A'));
  if (restricted.length > 0) throw new Error(`Export blocked: ${restricted.length} ITAR-restricted items`);
  const csv = [Object.keys(sanitized[0]).join(','), ...sanitized.map(r => Object.values(r).join(','))].join('\n');
  await writeFile(dest, csv, 'utf-8');
}

Data Validation

function validateShipment(s: FlexportShipment): string[] {
  const errors: string[] = [];
  if (!s.id) errors.push('Missing shipment ID');
  if (!s.ref || s.ref.length > 50) errors.push('Invalid shipment reference');
  if (!s.hsCode || !/^\d{4,10}$/.test(s.hsCode)) errors.push(`Invalid HS code: ${s.hsCode}`);
  if (!['EXW','FOB','CIF','DDP','DAP'].includes(s.incoterm)) errors.push(`Unknown incoterm: ${s.incoterm}`);
  if (!s.shipper?.name || !s.consignee?.name) errors.push('Missing shipper or consignee name');
  if (s.cargoReadyDate && isNaN(Date.parse(s.cargoReadyDate))) errors.push('Invalid cargo ready date');
  return errors;
}

Compliance

• PII fields (shipper/consignee contacts) encrypted at field level, redacted in logs
• Customs declarations retained 5 years per CBP/EU customs code requirements
• Commercial invoices retained 7 years for tax audit compliance
• GDPR right-to-erasure: redact PII but preserve shipment skeleton for business continuity
• CCPA opt-out signals honored for California-origin shipments
• ITAR/EAR restricted HS codes flagged and blocked from unauthorized export
• C-TPAT supply chain security: validate trading partner identities before data sharing
• Audit trail for all data access, export, and deletion operations

Error Handling

Resources

• Flexport API Reference
• CBP Data Retention Requirements

Next Steps

See flexport-security-basics.