Keep sensitive details away from AI
Before business data reaches an AI service, Kinnow removes identifiers, hides names and withholds risky text. It covers Ask Kinnow and most agents today; the rest are being added.
Live in partWhat does Veil do? Use AI on payroll, contracts and customer records without sending account numbers, ID numbers or deal terms to an AI vendor.
How it works
Every stored field in finance, HR, sales, compliance and documents is labelled by how sensitive it is. Before anything goes to an AI service, Kinnow removes bank, tax and ID numbers, swaps names for placeholders, hides or rounds negotiated terms, and holds back risky text. It covers Ask Kinnow and most agents today; the rest are being added. Real names come back in the answer. A final check scans everything that is leaving.
Tested with sentences in Hindi, Arabic and Chinese: it caught 100% of 14 kinds of identifier, and nothing got past the final check.
- Our rule: 'if we cannot record what left, we do not send it.' No setting can switch the record off, and if a record is missing you see a warning, never a calm screen.
- An AI provider that has not declared where it runs is treated as outside the country. Tests prove the AI is never called when that route is refused.
- All 473 stored lease-application fields carry a sensitivity label. A live demo shows 'what we would have sent' beside 'what we sent', at no AI cost.
- A test hides a real GSTIN inside a contract and proves it never reaches the AI.
Step by step
- Someone asks, or an agent starts. You type a question in Ask Kinnow, or an agent begins a task such as drafting a reply from a lease. Kinnow gathers only the records needed, and every stored field is already labelled by how sensitive it is.
- Sensitive details are removed or swapped. Identifiers are dropped. Names become placeholders. Negotiated terms are withheld. Free text is held back if a name or number is found in it.
- A final check scans what is leaving. Everything about to go out is scanned once more for identifier patterns. If one is found, that part is withheld and the event is recorded.
- Kinnow checks where the AI runs. If your company has said "keep it in the country", a request that would leave it is stopped or sent a different way. An AI provider that has not declared its location is treated as outside.
- The answer comes back with real names. Placeholders are swapped back, so you read "Meera Kapoor", not "PARTY_01". The key to the placeholders is kept encrypted and for no more than 24 hours.
- A record of the disclosure is saved. It lists what was sent, what was withheld and where it went. If the record is missing, you see a warning rather than a clean screen.
What you see on screen
- Veil details. A link on an Ask answer or agent run. It reads "run stopped", "ran degraded" or "not recorded" when that is what happened.
- What was sent and withheld. Sent items, withheld items with the reason for each, and where it went: "Reaches outside Kinnow", "Region not declared", or "Nothing left this environment". "Nothing was withheld" is shown when that is true.
- Placeholders. Hold the pointer on a placeholder to see the real value, if you are allowed to.
- How free text is being handled. An admin view over the last few days: notes and comments sent after masking, held back, and why.
- Try it on a note. Paste a note of up to 4,000 characters and press Mask it. It shows what an outside AI would see, how many ID numbers were removed, and which check caught what: your own list of names, fixed rules, or a name-reading model.
What happens to each kind of data
| Kind of data | Before it reaches an AI service | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Bank, tax and ID numbers | Dropped. They are never replaced with a stand-in. | A GSTIN becomes "[identifier dropped]". |
| Names of people and companies | Swapped for placeholders. The same name gets the same placeholder within one request, and a fresh one in the next. | "Meera Kapoor" becomes "PARTY_01". |
| Negotiated terms | Withheld by default. | Monthly rent becomes "[terms withheld]". |
| Notes, comments and email text | Held back whole if a name or identifier is found. An optional mode swaps names and sends the text only if a re-check finds nothing left. | A WhatsApp message naming a supplier. |
| Descriptions, codes and dates | Sent as they are. | "Escalation 5%". |
Who uses it
| Who | When | What they do |
|---|---|---|
| Business owner or finance head | At set-up, and when an auditor asks | Chooses whether AI may leave the country and adds names that must always be hidden. |
| Accountant, HR or sales user | Every day | Uses Ask Kinnow and agents as usual; Veil runs without a step from them. |
| Auditor, CA or privacy officer | On review | Opens the disclosure record for a run to see what left. |
See what an AI service would see from your own note. Bring a sample note and we will mask it in front of you.
Ask us how this applies to your data. Tell us which records you would not want an AI vendor to see, and we will check how each one is handled.
Related
- Safe and in your control - the wider set of controls around AI.
- Explainable agents with sign-off - how agent work is reviewed by a person.
- Column masking by role - who sees which fields on screen.
- Ask Kinnow - asking questions in plain English.
Questions
What is Veil in Kinnow?
Before business data reaches an AI service, Kinnow removes identifiers, hides names and withholds risky text. It covers Ask Kinnow and most agents today; the rest are being added.
What changes for the business?
Use AI on payroll, contracts and customer records without sending account numbers, ID numbers or deal terms to an AI vendor.
Is it available today?
It is live in part: the core is built and parts are completing with early customers.
Does Kinnow send my customer names to the AI?
No. Names are swapped for placeholders before anything is sent and put back in the answer you read. Four agents that read documents are the exception for names, because names are what they read; identifiers are still replaced.
Can I see what was sent for a particular answer?
Yes. Open Veil, our privacy layer details on the answer or the agent run. It lists what was sent, what was withheld and why, and where it went. If nothing was recorded, it says so rather than showing a clean result.
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