How Ethnio never shares PII or PHI with AI for privacy & safety 🛡️

Everywhere Ethnio AI operates, a strict firewall sits between your account and any AI you choose to use. All AI in Ethnio is optional and governed, so you never have to worry about an external AI company or LLM accessing your account or participant data.

🤔 What’s the problem we’re solving?

The best and latest AI models are run by outside companies, and your participant and account data in Ethnio is sensitive. It can include names, email addresses (PII), and private links, and in some studies health information (PHI).

Most tools force a tradeoff: use AI and send your data to a third party, or skip AI altogether. Ethnio’s approach removes that tradeoff. The AI does the work, but it never sees who your participants or sensitive data.

🎭 The big idea: tokens and masked placeholders

If you choose to use an AI-enabled feature, which again you never have to enable, then Ethnio uses a system of tokens to block PII (personally identifiable information), PHI (protected health information), and other sensitive data from being shared.

Think of it like a coat check. You hand over your coat and get a numbered ticket. Staff only ever handle the ticket, and when you come back, your coat is returned to you. The ticket means nothing to anyone else.

Ethnio does the same thing with participant details. Before anything reaches an AI model, real details are swapped for meaningless placeholders (tokens). When the AI finishes, Ethnio swaps the real details back in.

🔄 How it works, step by step

Say you want AI to draft a thank-you email to a participant who just finished a study.

1️⃣ Real data stays inside Ethnio 🏠

Maya Okafor’s first name, last name, email address, and gift card redemption link all live safely in your Ethnio account. They never leave.

2️⃣ Ethnio masks the details 🎭

Before the AI is asked to help, Ethnio replaces every sensitive detail with a placeholder token. For example:

• Maya’s email address becomes [tokenBsf]
• Maya’s first name becomes [tokena4sdf]
• Her gift card redemption link becomes [token8gasd]

3️⃣ The AI sees only tokens 🤖

The AI is asked to draft the email, and it sees something like this:

To [tokenBsf]

Hi [tokena4sdf], thanks for joining our checkout study on Thursday. Your $75 gift card is ready: [token8gasd]

The AI can write a friendly, well-structured message without ever knowing who it’s for.

4️⃣ Ethnio puts the real details back ✅

Once the AI is done, Ethnio swaps the tokens for the real information. What actually gets sent is:

To maya.okafor@gmail.com

Hi Maya, thanks for joining our checkout study on Thursday. Your $75 gift card is ready: ethn.io/r/8f2k-x91q

Maya gets a personal email, and the AI never learned anything about her.

🔒 What gets masked?

Every time AI works with participant data, Ethnio replaces the details with masked placeholders. That includes:

• 👤 Names
• 📧 Email addresses
• 🔗 Redemption links
• 🏥 Any other PII, PHI, or sensitive data

✨ Why this matters for you

• 🧘 Peace of mind. External AI companies and LLMs never have access to your account or participant data.
• 🤝 Participant trust. The people who share their time and information with your research stay protected.
• 📋 Easier compliance conversations. If your legal, security, or privacy team asks how AI is used with participant data, you have a clear answer: sensitive details are masked before they reach the model.
• 🚀 AI without the tradeoff. You get the speed and quality of modern AI without exposing your data.

🎛️ You’re always in control

Two principles apply to every AI feature in Ethnio:

• Optional. AI features are opt-in. You choose whether and when to use them.
• Governed. Even when you do use them, the firewall and token system apply every time.

❓ Frequently asked questions

Does the AI company ever see my participants’ names or emails?

No. The AI only sees masked placeholders like [tokenBsf] , never the real details.

Do I have to use AI in Ethnio?

No. All AI in Ethnio is optional.

Will my participants get a generic-looking message?

No. Once the AI finishes, Ethnio puts the correct details back, so participants receive a message with their real name and link.

Does Ethnio let the AI model train on my participant data?

The AI only ever works with masked placeholders, so your participants’ real details never reach the model in the first place.

Where does my real participant data live?

Inside Ethnio. It stays there while the AI works.

💬 Still have questions?

Our team is happy to walk you through how this works. Reach out to Ethnio support anytime. 💙