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Data Handling and Privacy

This page explains what data leaves your machine during red team testing and how to control it.

Data Flow Overview​

Red team testing involves three distinct operations, each with different data requirements:

OperationWhat RunsData Sent Externally
Target evaluationAlways localOnly to your configured LLM provider
Test generationLocal or remoteDepends on configuration (see below)
Result gradingLocal or remoteDepends on configuration (see below)

Your target model is always evaluated locally. Promptfoo never receives your target's responses unless you're using remote grading.

Default Behavior (No API Key)​

Without an OPENAI_API_KEY, promptfoo uses hosted inference for test generation and grading. The following data is sent to api.promptfoo.app:

For test generation:

  • Application purpose (from your config's purpose field)
  • Plugin configuration and settings
  • Your email (for usage tracking)

For grading:

  • The prompt sent to your target
  • Your target's response
  • Grading criteria

Never sent:

  • API keys or credentials
  • Your promptfooconfig.yaml file
  • Model weights or training data
  • Files from your filesystem (unless explicitly configured in prompts)

With Your Own API Key​

Setting OPENAI_API_KEY routes generation and grading through your OpenAI account instead of promptfoo servers:

export OPENAI_API_KEY=sk-...

Or configure a different provider for grading:

redteam:
  provider: anthropic:messages:claude-sonnet-4-20250514

With this configuration, promptfoo servers receive only telemetry.

Remote-Only Plugins​

Some plugins require promptfoo's hosted inference and cannot run locally. These are marked with 🌐 in the plugin documentation.

Remote-only plugins include:

  • Harmful content plugins (harmful:*)
  • Bias plugins
  • Domain-specific plugins (medical, financial, insurance, pharmacy, ecommerce)
  • Security plugins: ssrf, bola, bfla, indirect-prompt-injection, ascii-smuggling
  • Others: competitors, hijacking, off-topic, system-prompt-override

Remote-only strategies include: audio, citation, gcg, goat, jailbreak:composite, jailbreak:hydra, jailbreak:likert, jailbreak:meta

Disabling Remote Generation​

To run entirely locally:

export PROMPTFOO_DISABLE_REMOTE_GENERATION=true

This disables all remote-only plugins and strategies. You must provide your own OPENAI_API_KEY or configure a local model for generation and grading.

For red-team-specific control (keeps SimulatedUser remote generation enabled):

export PROMPTFOO_DISABLE_REDTEAM_REMOTE_GENERATION=true

See Configuring Inference for detailed setup.

Telemetry​

Promptfoo collects anonymous usage telemetry:

  • Commands run (redteam generate, redteam run, etc.)
  • Plugin and strategy types used (not content)
  • Assertion types

No prompt content, responses, or personally identifiable information is included.

To disable:

export PROMPTFOO_DISABLE_TELEMETRY=1

See Telemetry Configuration for details.

Network Requirements​

When using remote generation, promptfoo requires access to:

DomainPurpose
api.promptfoo.appTest generation and grading
api.promptfoo.devConsent tracking for harmful plugins
a.promptfoo.appTelemetry (PostHog)

If blocked by your firewall, see Remote Generation Troubleshooting.

Enterprise Deployment​

For organizations requiring complete network isolation:

Promptfoo Enterprise On-Prem provides:

  • Dedicated runner within your network perimeter
  • Full air-gapped operation
  • Self-hosted inference for all plugins
  • No data transmission to external servers

See the Enterprise Overview for deployment options.

Configuration Summary​

RequirementConfiguration
No data to promptfoo serversSet OPENAI_API_KEY + PROMPTFOO_DISABLE_TELEMETRY=1
Local generation onlySet PROMPTFOO_DISABLE_REMOTE_GENERATION=true + configure local provider
Air-gapped deploymentUse Enterprise On-Prem