# Privacy safeguards enforced by the product itself

> Sensitive data redaction, limited retention, cascading deletion, a works council kit, and a DPIA template: compliance is built into the product.

Source : https://tellmehow.io/en/features/privacy-gdpr-ai-act · Updated on : 2026-10-18

The product rates no one, analyzes no emotions, redacts sensitive data on screen, and truly deletes what must be deleted. It also provides the documents the firm and its client need.

Privacy in TellMeHow rests on rules the product enforces: processes are assessed and people never are, emotions are never analyzed, sensitive on-screen data is redacted, raw recordings are kept for a limited time, and deletions cascade.

- No emotion analysis and no individual scores
- Raw recordings kept for 90 days by default
- Works council kit, DPIA template, and Article 28 agreement included

### A recording that raises concerns

A tool that records employees’ voices and screens quickly looks like a monitoring tool. Employees hold back, the works council asks questions, and the audit loses what makes it valuable: an honest account of how work really gets done. Written commitments are not enough; they have to be verifiable in the product.

### Rules built into the product

Processes are assessed, never people: no ratings, no scores, no rankings, whether in the interface, the exports, or the chat. Tone, stress, and hesitation are never analyzed, since emotion recognition in the workplace is prohibited by Article 5 of the EU AI Act. Participants know from the invitation that they are talking to an AI, as Article 50 requires.

- Participants can pause, turn off screen sharing or the microphone, withdraw a point, or delete a passage.
- Whatever is withdrawn disappears from the analysis, the evidence, the deliverable, and the search index.
- Nothing runs outside a session, and no software is installed on the participant’s computer.
- The sponsor never sees raw recordings or complete transcripts.

### Redaction in three layers

Before any image is sent to the vision model, an OCR engine running on our own servers reads it, with no external call; rules then detect IBANs, card numbers, social security numbers, email addresses, and phone numbers, and blur those areas. Recorded video is redacted after the session, before anyone watches it. Participants can also mask an area of their screen for the rest of the session.

- Detection by patterns and check digits, with no language model involved.
- Detected categories configurable per engagement.
- A stated limit: handwriting or badly formatted data can escape detection, and the welcome screen says so.

### Retention, deletion, and traceability

Raw recordings are kept for 90 days by default, a period configurable per workspace and per engagement, and purged automatically when it ends. An erasure request is handled in one click and cascades to everything concerning the participant. Every playback of a raw recording is logged: who, when, and which passage.

- Warning seven days before raw recordings are purged.
- Raw-recording access log available to the workspace admin.
- Data strictly isolated between firms.

### Documents for the works council and the DPO

The product provides documents in English and French, prefilled with the processing description and the providers actually configured: a works council information kit, a data protection impact assessment (DPIA) template, a processing agreement under Article 28 of the GDPR, and a classification note under the EU AI Act. They are not legal advice: the final assessment belongs to your legal counsel or DPO.

- A “works council informed or consulted on” field on the engagement, flagged at launch for French companies.
- A welcome screen with mandatory sections: AI, recording, recipients, retention, and rights.
- Application hosted in France; each AI provider’s location shown in the product and in the documents.

### In practice

- **Raw recording retention** : 90 days by default, configurable per workspace and per engagement; transcripts and published evidence are kept longer.
- **Redaction** : Local OCR and rule-based detection before images reach the vision model, video redacted after the session, manual masking by the participant.
- **Erasure** : Cascading deletion at the participant’s request, handled by the firm in one click.
- **Raw recording access** : Reserved for the consulting firm, with every playback logged.
- **GDPR roles** : The client and/or the firm are data controllers; the software publisher is a processor.
- **Documents provided** : Works council kit, DPIA template, Article 28 processing agreement, and EU AI Act classification note.
### Frequently asked questions

**Does the product assess employees’ emotions or performance?**

No. TellMeHow describes processes and produces no ratings, scores, or rankings of people, including in exports and the chat. It does not analyze tone, stress, or hesitation, since emotion recognition in the workplace is prohibited by Article 5 of the EU AI Act. Only what is said and shown is analyzed.

**Do we need to consult the works council?**

In France, a tool that records voice and screen may be considered a means of monitoring employee activity, which makes informing and consulting the works council (CSE) likely, even for a pilot. TellMeHow provides a prefilled works council kit covering purposes, data collected, safeguards, and retention periods. The procedure remains the employer’s responsibility, with its legal counsel.

**Is a DPIA required?**

Very likely, since the processing combines AI, voice, screen content, and employees. TellMeHow provides a data protection impact assessment template prefilled with the processing description and the configured providers. The data controller completes and approves it with its DPO.

**Does sensitive on-screen data reach the AI provider?**

TellMeHow blurs the sensitive data it detects before sending an image to the vision model, using OCR that runs on its own servers. Detection is rule-based and cannot be perfect, for example with handwriting. Participants can therefore also share a single window, turn off screen sharing, or mask an area.

**Is this information legal advice?**

No. This page describes what TellMeHow does to help the firm and its client comply with the GDPR, the EU AI Act, and employment law. The legal assessment of each deployment belongs to the data controller and its legal counsel or DPO.

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- Français : https://tellmehow.io/fonctionnalites/confidentialite-rgpd-ai-act.md