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How to Redact Sensitive Data from OpenTelemetry GenAI Traces

Disable unnecessary GenAI content capture, sanitize telemetry in the Collector before export, and test the spans that actually leave your pipeline.
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To keep sensitive content out of OpenTelemetry GenAI traces, first disable prompt and completion capture unless it is genuinely needed, then apply a deliberate Collector policy before export and verify the data at each pipeline boundary. Collector rules reduce exposure but cannot guarantee that every secret or piece of personal information will be detected, so prevention and testing matter as much as redaction.

Which parts of a GenAI trace can contain sensitive data?

Prompts and completions are only the most visible risks. OpenTelemetry’s GenAI span conventions warn that message content may contain user data or personally identifiable information (PII), and that system instructions may also be sensitive.

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  • gen_ai.input.messages and gen_ai.output.messages: user messages, prompts, model responses, and completions.
  • gen_ai.system_instructions: system or developer instructions.
  • Prompt-variable values and other runtime context.
  • Tool names and descriptions, plus gen_ai.tool.call.arguments and gen_ai.tool.call.result.
  • Retrieval queries, retrieved documents, and memory content.
  • Custom span attributes, events, exception messages, URLs, baggage, and logs associated with the trace.

Treat content-bearing fields as data, not harmless metadata. Sensitivity depends on the application and its payloads; OpenTelemetry does not determine which values are sensitive for you.

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Prevent prompt and completion capture at instrumentation time

Prevention is the strongest first control. OpenTelemetry’s GenAI conventions state: “OpenTelemetry instrumentations SHOULD NOT capture them by default, but SHOULD provide an option for users to opt in.” In context, “them” refers to model instructions, user messages, and model outputs, which the conventions describe as sensitive and often large. Check the behavior and configuration options of the specific instrumentation and version you deploy; do not assume every library has the same defaults.

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If a debugging workflow truly needs message content, make capture an explicit, limited choice rather than a general default. The conventions describe storing content outside the trace and recording references in spans as a way to separate access controls. That adds a storage and authorization path to manage, but can keep the main telemetry pipeline from carrying the content itself.

Truncation can reduce volume, but it is not a reliable privacy boundary: a secret or personal detail can appear at the beginning of a prompt or response. For structured payloads, preserve useful structure while removing or replacing sensitive values where feasible.

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Choose the right Collector control

The OpenTelemetry guidance on handling sensitive data describes several processors. Select according to whether the policy should change an attribute, discard a whole record, or retain only a known-safe set.

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Control Use it for Main trade-off
Disable content capture at instrumentation Prevent prompt and completion exposure at the source. Less direct payload visibility when debugging. (OpenTelemetry GenAI conventions)
Store content externally; put references in spans Workflows that need separate content access controls. Requires a separate storage and authorization path. (OpenTelemetry GenAI conventions)
Attribute processor Deleting, changing, or hashing named attributes. Requires knowing the attribute keys actually emitted. (OpenTelemetry sensitive-data guidance)
Filter processor Dropping an entire span or record when it should not be retained. All details in the dropped record are lost. (OpenTelemetry sensitive-data guidance)
Redaction processor Keeping selected attribute keys and masking values or keys by pattern. Bad rules can remove useful fields or allow sensitive values through. (Collector Contrib redaction documentation)
Transform processor Targeted attribute rewrites and other transformations. Rules still need to cover the payload shapes actually emitted. (OpenTelemetry sensitive-data guidance)

The Collector Contrib redaction processor documentation describes a particularly conservative option: configure allowed_keys to retain only attributes you have chosen. An empty allowed_keys list removes all attributes; allow_all_keys: true disables that allowlist. Treat the allowlist as fail-closed only when it is intentionally configured, and check that sensitive values cannot reappear in nested structures or alternate attributes.

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Pattern rules need careful review. The processor applies blocked patterns in configured order. Allowed-value patterns take precedence over blocked-value patterns, so a broad exception can let a value through. Ignored keys bypass redaction checks; use them only for fields whose values are known to be safe.

Build and validate the sanitization pipeline

1. Inventory what your application emits

List the instrumentation libraries, SDKs, application hooks, and Collector pipelines in use. Inspect span attributes, events, resource attributes, exception data, and associated logs—not just the standard GenAI fields. Libraries and application code can add custom telemetry, so review the data that is actually emitted.

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2. Decide what is permitted to leave the process

Disable unnecessary content capture first. For each field you keep, record why it is useful and whether it can contain personal data, credentials, or confidential material. Where content is needed only for a limited workflow, consider explicit opt-in or an externally stored reference rather than sending the content to every telemetry destination.

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3. Apply the policy before export

Configure the relevant processors in the active Collector pipeline. Use attribute rules for known keys, filters to discard whole records, redaction for allowlists or pattern-based masking, and transforms for targeted rewrites. Defining a processor is not enough: confirm that the intended pipeline includes it and that processing occurs before export to systems with broader access or longer retention.

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4. Match rules to the actual data representation

GenAI input and output content have defined JSON schemas, but the representation can vary: a library may emit structured attributes or serialize content as a JSON string. A rule aimed at nested fields may not match a serialized value; a regular expression aimed at a string may miss other encodings or payload shapes. Check the language, instrumentation version, and resulting spans before relying on a rule.

For example, OpenTelemetry’s sensitive-data guidance shows hashing user.email and deleting user.full_name with an attribute processor. Its transform example derives a SHA-256 field from a user ID and deletes the original. These illustrate processor capabilities, not a universal anonymization guarantee.

5. Test what actually leaves each boundary

  • Use controlled test traces containing representative prompt, completion, tool, retrieval, exception, and URL values.
  • Inspect span attributes and events, and relevant log records, after instrumentation and again after Collector processing.
  • Check whether each test value is absent, removed, or masked as intended, including alternate and serialized representations.
  • Review whether replacements affect debugging, correlation, or cardinality.
  • Where useful, enable redaction audit summaries for counts and keys removed or masked; keep sensitive values out of the audit channel.
  • Repeat the review when libraries, semantic conventions, Collector releases, or application payloads change.
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Check the rest of the trace, not only GenAI spans

Other spans can carry secrets or personal data in the same trace. OpenTelemetry’s HTTP span conventions recommend scrubbing sensitive URL query values when instrumentation can identify them; examples include sig and cloud-provider signature or credential parameters. The database client span conventions say query text should be collected by default only when sanitization excludes sensitive information, and describe replacing literals with placeholders. Review these fields alongside GenAI attributes in your policy and tests.

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Hashing and pattern rules are not universal privacy guarantees

Hashing can support correlation, but predictable or low-entropy identifiers may still be guessed or reversed in practice. OpenTelemetry’s sensitive-data guidance warns about this risk; the Collector redaction documentation recommends HMAC rather than a simple hash when hashing low-entropy data is needed. Protect key material and assess whether retaining a stable identifier is appropriate for your threat model.

Likewise, regular expressions and attribute rules can only cover cases they are written to match. The official guidance does not establish a universal detector that guarantees removal of arbitrary PII or secrets from model content. Define the policy for your application, test representative payloads, and review the exported representation. Technical controls also do not by themselves determine legal or regulatory compliance; that depends on your data, deployment, jurisdiction, and organizational requirements.

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