Tool Overview:
Protecto

About Protecto

Protecto is a data privacy and security platform designed to protect sensitive information when organizations use large language models and generative AI. The platform's core technology centers on tokenization - a process that replaces sensitive data with alternative tokens while maintaining the context and structure of the original information.

What does Protecto do?

The platform addresses the challenge of data leakage during interactions with AI systems like ChatGPT or custom language model implementations. It identifies and masks various types of sensitive data, including personally identifiable information, protected health information, and other confidential content before it reaches AI models. The tokenization process aims to preserve data utility by maintaining the essential structure and context of the information, rather than simply blocking or redacting sensitive content entirely.

The technical implementation involves storing the relationships between tokens and original sensitive data in an encrypted vault. Protecto provides access controls for managing permissions to both tokenized and original data. Organizations developing AI applications can integrate the platform through APIs to process training data and runtime interactions.

What makes Protecto different?

The platform approach is to maintain data utility alongside privacy protection. While some privacy tools completely restrict content containing sensitive information, Protecto's design allows for continued productive use of AI systems by selectively masking sensitive elements while preserving contextual information. The platform provides specific parameters to language models regarding the handling and interpretation of tokenized data.

Use cases and industries

Protecto has found applications across industries that handle regulated data, such as in telecommunications, technology, and financial services sectors. In one implementation, a telecommunications company used Protecto to mask sensitive information in historical contracts while enabling AI-powered contract analysis. Another deployment involved a technology company processing driver history and criminal record data through OpenAI's models while maintaining data residency compliance.