Home/ Part VII — Multimodal & Long Context (Where AI Studio Gets Spicy)/23. Audio/Video Inputs (If Your Workflow Uses Them)/23.5 Guardrails for sensitive recordings

23.5 Guardrails for sensitive recordings

Overview and links for this section of the guide.

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Threat model: why recordings are risky

Recordings and transcripts can contain:

  • customer names, emails, addresses, and account ids,
  • security details (incidents, vulnerabilities, tokens),
  • internal strategy, metrics, and product plans,
  • regulated data (medical, financial),
  • legal exposure (statements taken out of context).

Unlike many documents, recordings often include unstructured sensitive information that people didn’t intend to “publish.” Treat them as high sensitivity by default.

Assume transcripts are more shareable than you want

Once text exists, it spreads. Your process should assume accidental oversharing and defend against it.

Minimize: collect less, store less

Strong defaults:

  • Don’t record by default unless there is a clear benefit.
  • Prefer partial capture: only record the segment needed (demo, decision review).
  • Keep raw audio/video short-lived: extract artifacts, then delete the raw file.
  • Store only derived artifacts: action items, decisions, summaries, not the entire transcript.

Redaction and safe handling

If you must share or store transcripts:

  • Redact PII: replace names/emails/account ids with [REDACTED].
  • Redact secrets: tokens, API keys, internal endpoints.
  • Separate environments: keep sensitive transcripts out of general-purpose tooling.
  • Tag sensitivity: label entries (public/internal/restricted).

Access control and auditability

When transcripts are stored, enforce:

  • Least privilege: only those who need access have it.
  • Audit logs: record access to sensitive transcripts.
  • Retention windows: clear time limits.
  • Deletion workflows: remove raw and derived data when required.

Copy-paste prompts (guardrails)

Prompt: redact before summarizing

Scan this transcript for sensitive information.

Task:
1) Identify categories present (PII, secrets, customer data, security incidents).
2) Produce a redacted transcript where sensitive spans are replaced with [REDACTED].
3) Do NOT repeat the sensitive content in your analysis.

Transcript:
```text
...
```

Prompt: summarize with “no invention” rule

Summarize this transcript.

Rules:
- Do not invent decisions or commitments.
- If something is ambiguous, say "unclear" and list a follow-up question.
- Do not include any PII. If present, replace with [REDACTED].

Output:
- Summary bullets
- Decisions (with evidence quotes)
- Action items (owner/due_date may be null)
- Open questions

Practical checklist

  • Consent: do participants know it’s recorded?
  • Minimization: can you record less or not store raw files?
  • Redaction: are PII/secrets removed before sharing?
  • Access: who can read it? is it audited?
  • Retention: when is it deleted?
  • Derivatives: can you store only decisions/actions instead?

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