Glossary
What is prompt privacy?
Prompt privacy is the practice of reducing prompt-level exposure before data reaches an AI model. It governs what sensitive values are allowed to cross from an application into the prompt body that an LLM provider actually receives.
Definition
Prompt privacy is the practice of reducing prompt-level exposure before data reaches an AI model. It governs what sensitive values are allowed to cross from an application into the prompt body that an LLM provider actually receives.
Definition
Prompt privacy — short definition
Why it matters
Why this matters
Every LLM call is a data egress event. Prompts routinely carry names, emails, identifiers, ticket bodies, source code and internal documents — content that would not normally be sent to a third-party API without review. Prompt privacy is the technical layer that intercepts this before egress.
Every LLM call is a data egress event. Prompts routinely carry names, emails, identifiers, ticket bodies, source code and internal documents — content that would not normally be sent to a third-party API without review. Prompt privacy is the technical layer that intercepts this before egress.
How it works
How it works
Framework
Prompt privacy process
- 01
Detect
Identify supported sensitive entities in the prompt body before any provider call.
- 02
Mask
Replace originals with deterministic placeholders so the provider only ever sees masked content.
- 03
Rehydrate
Restore originals inside the gateway on the way back, then discard the per-request mapping.
Implementation
Learn how this works in Privian
From definition to implementation, docs and architecture — the same idea at different layers.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
- Is prompt privacy the same as data privacy?
- No. Data privacy is a broad legal and operational discipline covering how personal data is collected, stored and used. Prompt privacy is a narrow technical control focused on one specific surface — the prompt body — in the moment it leaves the application.
- Is prompt privacy the same as AI security?
- No. AI security is the broader program (model abuse, infrastructure, output handling, governance). Prompt privacy is one discipline inside it, scoped to what the model receives.
- Is prompt privacy a compliance certification?
- No. Prompt privacy is a technical control. It complements compliance work but does not certify HIPAA, SOC 2, PCI or any other framework on its own.
- What does prompt privacy not address?
- Prompt injection, content moderation, model hallucination, downstream misuse and governance decisions. Each is a separate problem with its own controls.
Where to go next
From definition to implementation
This entry is part of the Privian content library. If you are evaluating how this concept is implemented in practice, the links below are the most direct paths.
Related product
Prompt Security in Privian
Prompt-level controls — masking, structural validation and BYOK routing — applied before any provider call.
Open product page →