security2026-01-221 min read
Data Minimization for Agentic AI
Reduce data exposure while improving reliability—scoped retrieval, redaction, and least-privilege connectors.
title: Data Minimization for Agentic AI
description: Reduce data exposure while improving reliability—scoped retrieval, redaction, and least-privilege connectors.
date: 2026-01-22
tags: [security, compliance, privacy, governance]
The objective
Data minimization is not “use less data”. It’s use only the data needed to achieve a verified outcome, under explicit policies.
Where most teams go wrong
- “One connector to rule them all” (over-broad access)
- Embedding entire documents into context
- Tool calls returning raw payloads with PII
Practical patterns
1) Scoped retrieval contracts
Define retrieval as a contract: purpose, allowed sources, row/tenant constraints, max bytes, retention policy.
2) Redaction at the edge
Redact sensitive fields (PII, secrets, internal IDs) before the model sees them.
3) Least-privilege connectors
Create connectors per use-case, not per department. Narrow blast radius:
- salesforce:read:opps (not salesforce:* )
- jira:read:tickets:projectA (not jira:all)
The “safe default” checklist
- default deny tools
- allowlist per workflow
- policy bundle version pinned per run
- tamper-evident logs
What to measure
- percent of runs using restricted scopes
- redaction hit-rate
- incidents prevented (proxy: policy denies)
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