Privacy mode: use AI without exposing sensitive data
Privacy mode detects personal and confidential data in prompts and documents and replaces it with neutral placeholders before the content goes to an external AI model. The model works with structure and content. The original values stay with you.
Schematic illustration, sample data is fictitious
What is privacy mode in nuwacom?
Privacy mode is a feature in nuwacom that automatically pseudonymises personal and confidential data in chat inputs and uploaded documents before they are passed to an external large language model (LLM). An internal AI model replaces names, contact details, customer data, financial information and contract details with neutral placeholders. The external model only sees the placeholders.
Every prompt is a data transfer.
AI delivers its value where it works with real company data: contracts, customer correspondence and calculations. Uploading a document to an AI tool means handing it to an external language model.
Using AI with and without privacy mode
| Criterion | Without a protection layer | With privacy mode |
|---|---|---|
| What the external model receives | The prompt and document in the original, with every name, account number and term. | The same input with neutral placeholders instead of the protected values. |
| When an upload contains more than planned | Everything in the document is passed on. | Detected personal data is replaced before it is passed on. That lowers the risk. |
| Mapping to the original values | The values go to the whole chain of application, infrastructure and model provider. | The mapping stays protected in nuwacom. Authorised users see the original values on hover or with a switch. |
| Control in the company | No central rule that replaces personal data before it is passed on. | Admins can enforce the mode for all members of the workspace. |
Four steps before an external model sees anything.
An internal AI model pseudonymises confidential data before the content is passed to an external language model. The mapping between placeholder and original value stays protected in nuwacom.
Schematic illustration. Sample data is fictitious.
One protection layer of several
Privacy mode adds to nuwacom's security architecture. It does not replace a legal assessment of how you use it.
GDPR compliant
ISO 27001 certified
§ 203 StGB compliant
Operated in Europe
Data centres in Germany
No training on your dataWhat the external model sees and what stays with you
Try it: switch between placeholders and original values. Hover over a placeholder or an entry in the list to see what it stands for.
Dear Sir or Madam,
my order [Order number]#2024-08871 arrived only half complete. Please refund the missing amount to my account [IBAN]DE89 3704 0044 0532 0130 00. My customer number is [Customer number]448120.
Kind regards [Person 1]Karin Weber Phone [Phone number]0123 4567890
… my order [Order number] arrived only half complete. Please refund the missing amount to my account [IBAN]. My customer number is [Customer number]. Kind regards [Person 1], phone [Phone number]
| Data field | Original (fictitious) | External model |
|---|---|---|
| Order number | #2024-08871 | [Order number] |
| Bank details | DE89 3704 0044 0532 0130 00 | [IBAN] |
| Customer number | 448120 | [Customer number] |
| Customer name | Karin Weber | [Person 1] |
| Phone number | 0123 4567890 | [Phone number] |
Industries in focus
Where one wrong upload gets expensive.
Six industries, six scenarios from everyday work. Each starts with a legitimate task and a document full of sensitive data.
An employee in clinical development has the interim report of a phase II study summarised for management. The report contains pseudonymised patient data, side-effect profiles and compound names before the patent filing.
Typical content in the uploadA corporate client adviser prepares a credit meeting and has a client's annual financial statements, account transactions and internal rating notes condensed into a decision paper.
Typical content in the uploadA customer service team analyses a wave of complaints and uploads an export from the ticketing system: phone numbers, contract data, connection times and location details from fault reports.
Typical content in the uploadA buyer at an automotive supplier has supplier offers compared. For this, he uploads framework agreements, bills of materials and the price calculation for an OEM project.
Typical content in the uploadA lawyer has a draft brief created from the client file. The file contains the facts of the case, correspondence with the opposing party and health information from an employment law case.
Typical content in the uploadA tax adviser has an overview for annual planning created from a client's payroll records and receipts. The upload contains salaries, tax IDs and a planned business succession.
Typical content in the uploadThe pattern is the same in every industry: the task is legitimate, the benefit is real, and the risk lies in the document itself.
Privacy mode replaces the sensitive values before an external model sees them. In a demo call, we show you which data is detected in your case and what the placeholders look like, using examples from your industry.
How to switch on privacy mode
Recommended for regulated and data-sensitive areas such as healthcare, finance and insurance, public administration, law, consulting and HR. And anywhere messages or documents contain personal data that should not reach an external AI provider.
For admins
For employees
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What should companies look out for when they want to introduce AI securely and achieve real sovereignty? Andreas Maurer, Head of PR at IONOS Group, answers this and other questions with Sascha Böhr and Alexander Kleinen from nuwacom. The webinar is held in German.
A feature that detects personal and confidential data in prompts and documents and replaces it with placeholders before the content goes to an external AI model. The original values stay protected in nuwacom.
You enter a prompt or upload a document. A locally operated model detects personal data and replaces it with placeholders, for example “Maria Schneider” becomes [Person 1]. Only this protected version goes to the external model. In nuwacom, the system maps the placeholders back to the original values for authorised users.
Names, email addresses, phone numbers and ID numbers, as well as customer, employee, financial and contract data and other confidential business data. Additional attributes can be configured.
The external model only receives text with placeholders. However, the mapping to the original values stays protected in nuwacom so that authorised users can see them again. Technically, this is therefore pseudonymisation, even though the switch in the product interface is labelled “Anonymised”. How you classify this legally is something to clarify with your data protection officer.
Yes. Placeholders stay consistent within a request, so the model keeps the context. It processes structure and content without knowing the protected values.
Authorised users see them in nuwacom on hover or with the switch for the original view. This view is only visible to the person who switched on privacy mode. The external model never receives the original values.
Yes. Privacy mode protects chat inputs and uploaded documents, such as customer complaints, contracts or exports. Pseudonymised files are clearly labelled.
Yes. In the workspace settings under “AI Guardrails”, admins turn on “Enforce privacy mode for all members”. The mode can then no longer be switched off in the chat. Without this setting, each person decides for themselves.
Yes. System logs and stored processing data use the protected version, not the original values.
No. It is one protection layer of several and does not replace a legal assessment. Whether your specific use meets the requirements is something you assess together with your data protection officer, for example in a data protection impact assessment.
Enterprise customers can test it at no extra cost until the end of the year. Activation is handled by your Customer Success Manager. Any terms beyond that can be clarified with your contact at nuwacom.
Decide securely. Deploy with sovereignty.
In a demo call, we show you privacy mode with examples from your industry and work out how to use it in your workspace.
Prompts and files
Detection before the model
Context is preserved
Original values when needed
Entire documents go along
More than planned
Invisible in daily work