GDPR & Privacy Monitoring

AI agents frequently process personal data — sometimes unintentionally. OpenClaw provides an integrated privacy monitoring module that automates PII detection, consent tracking, and data minimization.

PII Detection in Agent Outputs

Automatic PII Detection

OpenClaw scans every trace in real time for personal data:

PII Category	Detection	Action
Names	NER-based	Pseudonymization
Email addresses	Regex + validation	Masking
Phone numbers	Pattern matching	Masking
IBAN/credit card	Luhn check + pattern	Immediate masking
Addresses	NER + geocoding check	Pseudonymization
Health data	Keyword + context	Alert + blocking

Configuring PII Actions

# privacy-config.yml
pii_detection:
  enabled: true
  scan_mode: real-time  # or "batch"

  actions:
    - type: mask
      categories: [email, phone, iban, credit_card]
      replacement: "[REDACTED]"

    - type: pseudonymize
      categories: [name, address]
      method: consistent_hash  # same PII = same pseudonym

    - type: alert
      categories: [health_data, biometric]
      channels: [slack, compliance-team]

    - type: block
      categories: [social_security_number]
      action: drop_trace  # trace is not stored

Records of Processing Activities

OpenClaw automatically generates a record of processing activities per GDPR Art. 30:

Processing purpose — Derived from agent configuration
Categories of data subjects — From metadata tags
Data categories — Automatically detected by PII scanner
Recipients — Which external APIs are called?
Deletion periods — From retention configuration
Technical measures — Encryption, pseudonymization, access control

Consent Tracking

For agents processing user interactions:

with oc.trace("support-agent") as trace:
    trace.set_consent({
        "data_processing": True,
        "ai_interaction": True,
        "profiling": False,
        "consent_timestamp": "2026-02-18T14:00:00Z",
        "consent_version": "v2.1"
    })

OpenClaw automatically verifies:

Is valid consent present?
Is the consent still current (not withdrawn)?
Does the processing purpose match the consent?
Are only consented data categories being processed?

Data Retention Enforcement

OpenClaw enforces automatic deletion periods:

Data Category	Default Period	Adjustable
Traces	90 days	Yes (min. 180 days for high-risk)
PII data	30 days	Yes
Aggregated metrics	365 days	Yes
Compliance logs	3 years	No (legal requirement)
Audit trails	5 years	No (legal requirement)

Automatic Deletion

retention:
  traces:
    default: 90d
    high_risk: 180d
    with_pii: 30d

  deletion:
    method: secure_delete  # overwrite, not just marking
    schedule: "0 2 * * *"  # nightly at 02:00
    audit_log: true         # deletion is logged

Privacy Dashboard

The privacy dashboard shows:

PII Detection Rate — How often is personal data detected?
Consent Coverage — For how many interactions is consent available?
Data Retention Status — Are deletion periods being followed?
DPIA Status — Status of data protection impact assessments
Cross-Border Transfers — Is data being transferred to third countries?

Important: OpenClaw does not replace your data protection officer. It automates the technical implementation and provides the data foundation for informed privacy decisions. Legal responsibility remains with you.