PII redaction

Available onmacOS

When a cloud drafting route is used on macOS, Scribe0 can first run an on-device redaction pass: names, dates of birth, and other identifying details in the transcript are replaced with placeholders before the text leaves your Mac, and the real details are restored in the finished note when it comes back. The cloud model drafts the note without ever seeing who the patient is.

How it works

1. A deterministic pass catches structured identifiers (dates, numbers, addresses).
2. An on-device Apple Intelligence pass catches names and free-text identifiers.
3. Each detail is swapped for a consistent placeholder, so the model still sees “the same person” throughout the transcript.
4. After drafting, the placeholders are swapped back on your Mac.

The pass never blocks a dictation: if the on-device analysis is unavailable, redaction degrades gracefully rather than failing your note.

When it applies

• Redaction is relevant to the cloud routes (Bedrock, OpenRouter). If you draft fully on-device, nothing leaves the Mac in the first place.
• This is currently a macOS-only capability; it is one of the reasons the privacy page calls macOS the privacy flagship.

Redaction reduces exposure, it does not eliminate it

Free-text clinical narratives can identify a patient in ways no automated pass can fully catch (a rare condition, an unusual occupation). Redaction lowers exposure on cloud routes; choosing an on-device route removes it.