July 2020 Summaries

On July 16, 2020, the Court of Justice for the European Union (CJEU) invalidated the EU-US Privacy Shield, a transatlantic agreement that facilitated the transfer of Europeans' personal data to the U.S., due to its inability to reconcile U.S. surveillance laws with European data protection standards like GDPR. This ruling leaves affected organizations scrambling to comply with stringent European data privacy laws without a grace period, and companies relying on Standard Contractual Clauses (SCCs) remain under scrutiny. Nylas offers a solution with its European Data Residency, enabling organizations to securely store and manage data within the EU, thus maintaining compliance without additional costs. The future of data protection remains uncertain, with potential changes to U.S. surveillance laws on the horizon, but Nylas assures users of enterprise-grade security and compliance with regulations including GDPR, CCPA, HIPAA, and FINRA through its SOC 2 Certified systems and rigorous audits.

Nylas transitioned from Jenkins to GitHub Actions to improve their continuous integration and delivery systems, aiming to enhance efficiency and reduce maintenance burdens. Previously, Jenkins was used to manage the continuous integration pipeline, but its limitations, including the need for extensive maintenance and incompatibility with modern cloud practices, led Nylas to seek an alternative. By switching to GitHub Actions, which integrates seamlessly with their GitHub-hosted codebase, Nylas increased developer productivity by allowing the team to create automated workflows with YAML configuration files. This move also led to a 30% reduction in test run times and a significant decrease in build failures, freeing up engineers to focus more on improving infrastructure. GitHub Actions supports various automated tasks, such as testing, code quality checks, and custom Slack and Clubhouse integrations, enhancing the overall deployment process. The transition resulted in faster, more reliable code deployments with minimal human intervention, positioning Nylas to further develop their containerization and automation strategies.

Google requires applications accessing sensitive user data through its APIs to undergo a security assessment, which can be costly and complex. While initial costs were between $15,000 and $75,000, those renewing their assessments might see reduced expenses, especially if they have completed recent penetration tests or if their application has not significantly changed since the last assessment. This year, Google-approved assessors, including Bishop Fox, Leviathan, and the NCC Group, have increased their capacity to handle demand, potentially reducing delays experienced previously. Returning customers might benefit from more flexible timelines, though early engagement with a security firm is still recommended. Developers should be aware that 73% of medium-level security issues identified were cloud-related, and Google's upcoming guidance will clarify whether these must be addressed before applications receive approval. Nylas offers support and communication with assessors to help clients navigate the assessment process effectively.

Nylas has announced several updates to its platform aimed at enhancing productivity for developers by leveraging AI-powered workflow automations that utilize communications data from users' inboxes, calendars, and contacts. These updates, available through an Early Access program, include features such as Outbox Beta, which allows users to schedule and send large volumes of emails with high deliverability and full CRUD capabilities, and Categorizer, which organizes inboxes by distinguishing human communications from machine-generated ones. Other capabilities include Clean Conversations for decluttering emails, Optical Character Recognition to extract data from unstructured sources, Entity Recognition for detecting specific words in emails, and Signature Extraction to update contact databases automatically. Additionally, Workflow Templates enable the automation of complex business processes with minimal effort. Over 50,000 developers globally use Nylas to create productivity features without the need for extensive integration and security development, and interested parties are encouraged to consult with a Nylas specialist to explore these new capabilities further.

Microsoft's Exchange Web Services (EWS) API offers a comprehensive framework for developers to integrate Exchange data and functionality into applications, using SOAP implementation to facilitate communication with Exchange servers. The article discusses the components required to build a full integration with EWS accounts, highlighting the authentication methods available, such as OAuth 2.0 for Exchange Online and NTLM for on-premises servers. OAuth is preferred for its enhanced security, despite being more complex to implement, while NTLM is suitable for internal corporate environments. The Nylas Communications Platform simplifies the integration process by managing OAuth credentials and providing a modern REST interface, making it easier to work with compared to the traditional SOAP/XML interface of Exchange. Nylas also offers SDKs for multiple programming languages, enabling developers to build email, calendar, and contact integrations more efficiently, allowing them to focus on enhancing user experience rather than becoming experts in Exchange integrations.