Shopify App Security Review: How to Build an Evidence Register

Start with two lists. The requirement tracker records what Shopify requested and when your team must respond. The evidence register records what material actually supports your technical claims. Linking them helps reveal gaps, but they should not be confused. A request for an Incident Report is not evidence that the report is complete, and a vendor proposal is not proof that testing occurred.

For each requirement, name the responsible person, planned deliverable and current status. For each supporting item, assign an evidence reference that remains stable across report revisions. A single item can support several requirements, but explain its relevance in each context. Follow the exact notice rather than building a generic submission package that omits the documents the reviewer has specifically asked to receive.

A useful register entry includes reference, description, source system, covered time period, collection time, collector, original location, working-copy location and sensitivity. Add timezone information where logs are involved. Record whether the item is an original export, a screenshot, a transformed dataset or an analyst’s note. Those distinctions help a reader understand what can be inferred from the material.

As an illustrative structure, E-01 could refer to the redacted notice and E-02 to a deployment export. These labels are examples, not supplied client evidence. Choose a naming convention your team can sustain, avoiding customer names or tokens in filenames. If you record integrity checks, document how they were produced. An integrity check can show that a file has not changed; it does not independently prove the original source was complete or correct.

Identify logs and other records with short retention periods early. Coordinate collection with the incident owner before data expires or systems are rebuilt. Preserve relevant original exports with restricted write access where possible. Record the collection method and any limitations, including missing intervals, sampling or export limits. Shopify’s monitoring documentation describes dashboard alerts and logs, but those views are not a complete substitute for your app, cloud and deployment records.

Create working copies for analysis and sharing. Redact credentials, access tokens and unnecessary personal data, while retaining identifiers that are essential to correlate events through a controlled mapping. Log the transformation so that a reviewer can distinguish original evidence from a presentation copy. Do not upload unrestricted incident archives into a public enquiry form or assume every person on a sales thread needs access.

Connect each finding to the environment and application version assessed. Then link the remediation change, deployment evidence and subsequent verification. This chain prevents the common error of using a screenshot from one environment to claim that another deployment is fixed. Include the tested roles and stores when those details matter to the issue, especially for merchant isolation and object authorization.

Maintain separate status fields for developer progress and assessor verification. “Patch deployed” and “finding verified closed” describe different events. If retesting fails or covers only part of the original condition, keep that outcome visible. Do not delete earlier evidence when the finding status changes. A versioned history helps explain what the team knew, what changed and what remains unresolved.

Assign an owner who can maintain the register and answer access questions. Define who may collect, analyze, approve and share sensitive items. Use a controlled transfer channel for external assessors and confirm recipients before sending access links. Set an expiry or review date for temporary access. Keep operational credentials separate from the evidence archive so a report recipient does not accidentally receive live privileges.

Add an explicit gap record where evidence is unavailable. Explain the period or question affected, why the evidence is missing and how that limits the conclusion. A blank field can be mistaken for an oversight; a documented gap is more useful. Avoid filling missing evidence with a confident narrative. If additional testing can assess a current weakness but cannot reconstruct past activity, record that distinction.

Before submitting reports, create a concise index that references the items cited in the documents and identifies any restricted attachments. Check every reference resolves to the intended version. Remove duplicates that add no information, but retain original evidence internally under your retention arrangements. The submission should explain the technical response, not overwhelm the reviewer with unrelated logs.

Scantra can discuss available incident evidence, independent VAPT and remediation verification against the scope in your notice. An evidence register makes that conversation more precise because the team can see which claims are supported and which need further work. It does not guarantee Shopify acceptance or relisting. The final governance decision remains with Shopify, and the appropriate package depends on the actual correspondence and facts of the app’s situation.