Glossary

What is Zero-copy architecture?

Updated September 1, 2026

Zero-copy architecture verifies and scores data where it already lives instead of copying it into another vendor's warehouse. The record stays inside the institution's environment; only the verified signal, the score, the provenance, and the answer, travels.

Copying data multiplies risk: every copy is a new breach surface, a new consent question, and a new divergence from the source of truth. Zero-copy removes the copy instead of trying to secure it.

In practice this means no duplication, no external storage, no loss of provenance, and SQL-level traceability, and it is what lets federated research run across institutions without any records changing hands.