> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://livingcontext.mintlify.site/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.
# Privacy and redaction
> How the extension protects sensitive data — by default, before anything is captured.
Capture tools see your screen while you work, so the privacy model matters. LivingContext is private by default: sensitive data is protected before it's captured, not cleaned up afterwards.
## Passwords are always masked
Password fields are masked unconditionally. When you type into one, the step records bullets — the plain text is never captured, never stored, and never leaves the field. There is no setting that turns this off.
## Smart blur
Smart blur detects sensitive patterns on the page and blurs them **before the screenshot is taken**. Un-blurred pixels never leave the browser.
Detected categories:
| Category | Examples |
| ----------------------- | ----------------------------------------------- |
| Email addresses | Contact and user emails on records and lists |
| Phone numbers | Customer and employee numbers |
| Social Security numbers | US SSNs in any common format |
| Credit card numbers | Card PANs on payment and billing pages |
| IP addresses | Network addresses in logs and admin screens |
| MAC addresses | Hardware addresses in admin and network screens |
**Email and phone numbers are blurred by default**; enable the rest as your pages need them. There are two places to control this: the extension's own settings (the **Redact sensitive data** toggle and its category pills), and the organization-wide defaults an admin sets in **Settings → Smart blur**.
When you publish, the blur is permanently baked into the published images. There is no un-blurred original anywhere outside your browser.
Smart blur is the automatic floor, not the ceiling. For anything it can't detect — account names, internal figures, free-text notes — add manual redaction fills or blur regions in the [annotation editor](/capture/editing-steps). Those are baked in at publish too.
## No keylogging
The extension records only deliberate keystrokes:
* Typing is captured as the final value of a field — one step per field, never a keystroke log.
* Only intentional command keys become steps: ⌘/Ctrl + S/C/V/X, Enter, and Escape.
* Bare letters, arrow keys, and Tab are ignored and never recorded.
* While a capture is paused, nothing is recorded at all — and the paused state survives page reloads and new tabs.
## Video is tab-only — and unredacted
Session video is restricted to the current browser tab. The extension refuses whole-screen and window shares, so a notification in another app can never end up in a recording.
Unlike screenshots, the session video is **not** smart-blurred — anything visible in the tab while recording ends up in the published recording. If the page shows data that shouldn't ship, turn video off for that capture (**Record without video**) and rely on screenshots, which do get redaction.
## Captures stay local until you publish
Everything a capture collects — steps, screenshots, video — lives in your browser's local storage while you record and edit. Nothing is uploaded until you click **Publish**, and publishing sends the capture only to your organization's workspace.
Review screenshots before publishing. Automatic protections cover passwords and known sensitive patterns, but only you know whether that dashboard number or customer name belongs in a shared guide.
## Summary
| Protection | When it applies | Reversible? |
| ------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------- | ---------------------------- |
| Password masking | Always, at capture time | Never captured |
| Smart blur | Before each screenshot, per enabled categories | Baked in at publish |
| Manual redaction and blur | Applied while editing | Baked in at publish |
| Keystroke filtering | Always, at capture time | Never captured |
| Tab-only video | Always | Cannot record beyond the tab |
| Local-until-publish | Until you click Publish | You control the upload |