Access history and audit trail: who came in, when and through which door

Two different records

People often mix up two things that answer different questions. Access history records what happened at the doors: who went through, which door, how and at what time, including denied attempts. The audit trail records what was done in the system: who enrolled, changed or deleted someone, who opened a door remotely, who created an invitation.

The two complement each other. The access history shows that a door opened for someone. The audit trail shows who gave that person permission to come in, and when.

What good access history shows

To be useful when a real question comes up, every access record needs to answer a few basic questions:

• Who the person was, if they were identified, or a clear sign that they weren't.
• Which door and which terminal.
• The method used: face, card, fingerprint, PIN or QR code.
• The result: granted or denied.
• A reliable date and time, with the devices' clocks kept in sync.

Denied attempts deserve special attention. Several denials in a row at the same door can point to a bad photo, an expired record or someone trying to get in without permission. Checking them regularly is a cheap way to head off problems.

Why the audit trail matters just as much

In an access control system, whoever manages it holds a lot of power: they can give anyone access, open doors remotely and delete records. The audit trail is what protects the condominium, and the people who work there, from doubts about how that power is used.

When a door is opened through the system, the audit trail should say who did it, when, the reason given and whether it worked. When someone's face photo is replaced, it should say who replaced it. That prevents baseless accusations against the staff and makes it easy to explain to the board what happened.

A reliable record starts with the clock

One technical detail often goes unnoticed: the time on the devices. If a terminal's clock runs fast or slow, the history shows the entry at the wrong time, and a simple question turns into an endless argument. Networked devices can set their clocks automatically, and it's worth confirming with your vendor how that's done.

Frequent collection matters too. If records live only in each terminal's memory and get copied every now and then, a full memory or a replaced device can take part of the history with it. Ideally, the system pulls access events into one central place right after they happen.

Putting the records to work day to day

Access history and the audit trail aren't just for emergencies. A few simple routines make good use of these records:

• Answer complaints with data: filter by door and time period and see what actually happened.
• Review denials every week to fix photos and expired records before they turn into complaints.
• Export a report when you need to present the information to the board or at the owners' meeting.
• Check, from time to time, the remote door openings and the reasons given.
• Decide who can look up the history. Not every user needs to see every resident's comings and goings.

Privacy matters here too

Access history is personal data: it reveals people's routines, when they leave and come back, who they have over. That's why it should be looked up only by those who need it, for clear purposes, and kept only for the period the condominium sets. LGPD, Brazil's General Data Protection Law, applies here just as much as it does to photos.

A good practice is to agree with the board on when the history can be looked up and by whom, and to put that rule in writing. Then, when a resident asks to see their own records, the answer is simple.

How Abriu handles it

With Abriu, the hub (the small computer installed in the condominium) reads access events from the terminals every minute, both granted and denied, along with who, when, which door and which method. The access history can be filtered by terminal, result, method, time period and person, the first page refreshes on its own, and the list can be exported as a PDF. Each dashboard user sees only what their permissions allow.

The audit trail records door commands, imports, populating and clearing terminals, photo and fingerprint changes, invitations and backups, with who did it and the result. Opening doors from the dashboard requires a dedicated permission, asks for confirmation, accepts a reason and is logged, even when the attempt fails. The audit trail is visible only to administrators.