Conversation history redaction | ElevenLabs Documentation

Conversation history redaction detects and removes sensitive information from your conversation data before it is stored, thereby minimising exposure of sensitive entities while preserving useful conversation logs for review and analysis.

This feature is available to enterprise clients only. Contact sales for access.

Conversation history redaction significantly reduces sensitive entity exposure, but as with any detection service operating on dynamic user data, the detection rate is not 100%. Therefore, enabling this feature alone does not guarantee compliance with strict regulations such as HIPAA. For full compliance, enable Zero Retention Mode.

Overview

When a conversation ends, a post-processing step scans the transcript and audio for sensitive entities. Any detected entities are redacted before the conversation data is stored:

Transcripts and analysis: Entity instances are replaced with [ENTITY_NAME] (e.g. [NAME], [EMAIL_ADDRESS]).
Audio: Entity instances are replaced with a bleep sound.
Webhooks: Transcript and audio webhooks also contain redacted data.

Because post-processing runs after the conversation ends, there will be a short delay before the conversation appears in your history.

Configuration

Redaction settings are located in the Privacy section at the bottom of your agent’s Advanced tab.

The redaction configuration has two fields:

Field	Type	Description
`enabled`	`boolean`	Whether to redact sensitive entities from the conversation history.
`entities`	`list[string]`	List of entity types to redact. See supported entities for valid values.

How redaction works

Placeholder format

Each redacted entity is replaced with its type name in uppercase brackets. For example, if email_address is configured, an email like john@example.com in the transcript becomes [EMAIL_ADDRESS].

Parent and child entities

Entities follow a hierarchy using dot notation. You can configure redaction at any level:

Parent entity (e.g. name): Redacts all child entities under it. All matches use the parent placeholder — for example, both given names and family names are replaced with [NAME].
Child entity (e.g. name.name_given): Redacts only that specific type, using its own placeholder [NAME_GIVEN].

If you pass both a parent entity and one of its children, the child entry is ignored since the parent already covers it.

Example

Configuring ["name", "email_address", "financial_id.payment_card.payment_card_number"] will:

Replace all names (given, family, other) with [NAME]
Replace email addresses with [EMAIL_ADDRESS]
Replace payment card numbers with [PAYMENT_CARD_NUMBER]

Supported entities

Name

Entity	Description
`name`	All name types (given, family, other).
`name.name_given`	Names given to an individual, usually at birth. Often first/middle names in Western cultures.
`name.name_family`	Names indicating a person’s family or community. Often a last name in Western cultures.
`name.name_other`	Titles, suffixes, nicknames, partial names, initials, and other name components.

Contact

Entity	Description
`email_address`	Email addresses in any format, including spelled-out versions.
`contact_number`	Fax, telephone, or mobile numbers in any domestic or international format.

Personal information

Entity	Description
`dob`	Dates explicitly identified as birth dates.
`age`	Numbers associated with an individual’s age.
`religious_belief`	Terms indicating religious affiliation or belief.
`political_opinion`	Terms referring to political party affiliation, movement, or ideology.
`sexual_orientation`	Terms indicating sexual orientation.
`ethnicity_race`	Terms indicating nationality, ethnicity, race, or cultural origin.
`marital_status`	Terms indicating marital status.
`occupation`	Job titles or professions.
`physical_attribute`	Distinctive bodily attributes including height, weight, and descriptions.
`language`	Names of natural languages.

Credentials

Entity	Description
`username`	Usernames, login names, or handles.
`password`	Account passwords, PINs, passcodes, access keys, or security answers.

Web

Entity	Description
`url`	Internet addresses and URLs.

Organization

Entity	Description
`organization`	Names of organizations or departments within an organization.

Financial identifiers

Entity	Description
`financial_id`	All financial identifier types below.
`financial_id.payment_card`	All payment card fields below.
`financial_id.payment_card.payment_card_number`	Payment card numbers / primary account numbers (PAN).
`financial_id.payment_card.payment_card_expiration_date`	Payment card expiration dates.
`financial_id.payment_card.payment_card_cvv`	3-4 digit card verification values.
`financial_id.bank_account`	All bank account fields below.
`financial_id.bank_account.bank_account_number`	Bank account numbers including IBANs.
`financial_id.bank_account.bank_routing_number`	Bank routing numbers (ABA routing transit numbers).
`financial_id.bank_account.swift_bic_code`	SWIFT/BIC codes for international bank identification.
`financial_id.financial_id_other`	Other financial identifiers such as sort codes, BSB numbers, CLABE, cryptocurrency wallet addresses, etc.

Location

Entity	Description
`location`	All location types below.
`location.location_address`	Street addresses without city, state, or postal code components.
`location.location_city`	Municipality names, including villages, towns, and cities.
`location.location_postal_code`	Postal codes and zip codes.
`location.location_coordinate`	Geographic positions using latitude, longitude, and/or elevation.
`location.location_state`	State, province, territory, or prefecture names.
`location.location_country`	Country names.
`location.location_other`	Landmarks, neighborhoods, counties, boroughs, regions, and other locations.

Date

Entity	Description
`date`	Specific calendar dates, including days of the week, months, or years.
`date_interval`	Broader time periods including date ranges, months, seasons, years, and decades.

Unique identifiers

Entity	Description
`unique_id`	All unique identifier types below.
`unique_id.government_issued_id`	Government-issued identifiers such as SSNs, passport numbers, driver’s license numbers, and international equivalents.
`unique_id.account_number`	Customer account or membership identification numbers.
`unique_id.vehicle_id`	Vehicle identification numbers (VINs), serial numbers, and license plate numbers.
`unique_id.healthcare_number`	All healthcare number types below.
`unique_id.healthcare_number.medical_record_number`	Unique codes or IDs assigned to patients by healthcare providers.
`unique_id.healthcare_number.health_plan_beneficiary_number`	IDs assigned by health insurance companies or government health programs.
`unique_id.device_id`	Device identifiers such as MAC addresses, IMEI numbers, and serial numbers.
`unique_id.unique_id_other`	Other unique identifiers such as tax IDs and tracking numbers.

Medical

Entity	Description
`medical`	All medical types below.
`medical.medical_condition`	Diseases, injuries, symptoms, diagnoses, disorders, and chronic conditions.
`medical.medication`	Prescriptions, vitamins, supplements, drugs, dosages, and pharmaceutical products.
`medical.medical_procedure`	Surgeries, treatments, interventions, and therapies.
`medical.medical_measurement`	Vitals, lab results, blood type, test results, and measurements tied to a specific individual.
`medical.medical_other`	Allergies, medical devices, and other health-related information.

Best practices

Only enable the entities you need. The detection rate improves when fewer entity types are configured. Narrowing the set of entities reduces ambiguity and leads to more accurate detection.
Refer to the examples and descriptions. Use the examples beside the entities in the entity selection sheet and the descriptions above or tooltips in the sheet to understand what each entity redacts.

Comparison with Zero Retention Mode

Conversation history redaction and Zero Retention Mode both protect sensitive data, but they work differently and suit different needs.

	Conversation history redaction	Zero Retention Mode
How it works	Detects and replaces specific entity types in stored data	Discards all conversation data — nothing is stored or logged
Detection coverage	High but not 100%	100% — entire audio and transcript are discarded
HIPAA compliance	Not guaranteed on its own	Can enable HIPAA compliance
Conversation history access	Available to workspace users and ElevenLabs admins in conversation history page	Must set up a HTTP endpoint to receive post-call webhooks
Debugging	Conversations can be reviewed and debugged	No stored data to review
Webhook payloads	Redacted	Not stored — must retrieve via your own endpoint
ElevenLabs admin access	Admins may access internal logs containing unredacted data	Admins cannot access conversation data

Frequently asked questions

What happens if entity detection fails?

If an error occurs during entity detection, the system falls back to Zero Retention Mode behavior, where no conversation data is stored.

Does redaction prevent ElevenLabs from accessing conversation data?

No. Redaction applies to stored conversation history visible to you. ElevenLabs may still have access to conversation data through internal logs. To prevent this, enable Zero Retention Mode.

Why is there a delay before my conversation appears?

When redaction is enabled, a post-processing step runs after each conversation to detect and redact entities. This introduces a short delay before the conversation appears in your history.

Will more configuration options be available?

Yes. This feature is in early stages, and more flexible configuration options will be supported in the future.

Why is this feature useful if it doesn't guarantee HIPAA compliance?

Limits internal exposure: Conversation history redaction ensures that anyone in your workspace cannot see sensitive entities in the conversation history.

Demonstrates best-effort data handling: Clients and auditors view redaction as a positive signal that your organization takes reasonable steps to protect sensitive information while retaining conversation data for monitoring and improvement.

Preserves debugging access: Unlike Zero Retention Mode, redaction keeps conversation history available for review, allowing your team to monitor agent performance, investigate issues, and iterate without sacrificing privacy controls entirely.

Can I enable Zero Retention Mode and conversation history redaction at the same time?

Yes. When both are enabled, conversation data is not stored, but your post-call transcript and audio webhooks will have sensitive entities redacted from them.