Enterprise document extraction pipelines routinely process PII and PHI: loan applications with Social Security numbers, prior authorization forms listing diagnoses, KYC packets with passport scans, and contracts with signatory addresses. LandingAI ADE addresses data handling through a layered security model covering processing defaults, a zero retention option, regional deployment, and compliance certifications including SOC 2 Type II, GDPR, and HIPAA.
Types of Sensitive Data Common in Enterprise Documents
Six categories of sensitive information appear routinely in documents submitted to extraction APIs across finance, healthcare, legal, and insurance industries.
| Data category | Example document types | Regulatory relevance |
|---|---|---|
| Personally Identifiable Information (PII) | Loan applications, onboarding forms, KYC packets, HR records | GDPR, CCPA, state privacy laws |
| Protected Health Information (PHI) | Prior authorization forms, discharge summaries, insurance claims, lab results | HIPAA |
| Financial account data | Bank statements, wire instructions, invoices, brokerage records | PCI DSS where cards are present, GLBA |
| Government-issued identifiers | Passports, national ID scans, driver's licenses | GDPR, regional identity laws |
| Legal personally named content | Contracts, litigation documents, NDAs | Varies by jurisdiction |
| Biometric data | Signatures captured in forms, identity verification documents | GDPR Article 9, state biometric laws |
ADE processes each of these document types, and the security controls below apply uniformly: the same protections govern a healthcare claim as a financial onboarding packet. See the ADE overview for supported file types and formats.
Default Data Handling in ADE
Under the standard configuration, ADE processes documents submitted via the API and retains operational data per the terms of the customer agreement.
Processing PHI under the standard configuration is outside the scope of LandingAI's HIPAA-compliant service. HIPAA-compliant PHI processing requires Zero Data Retention enabled and a Business Associate Agreement in place.
All data in transit is encrypted using TLS 1.2 or higher, and data at rest with AES-256, per the Security and Compliance page. Customer data is logically segregated in the multi-tenant architecture, so one organization's documents are never accessible to another.
Zero Data Retention (ZDR): What It Means and When to Enable It
With the ZDR option enabled for your account, customer data is not persisted beyond processing.
When ZDR is active:
- Your data is used exclusively to perform the operation you request, such as parsing or extracting a document.
- Processing begins when LandingAI receives your request and ends when the output is returned to you.
- LandingAI does not use your data for training or improving its models.
- ZDR covers the entire platform including all sub-processors, not only the primary API endpoint. It applies when calling the ADE APIs directly and when processing documents with the Python and TypeScript libraries.
- A separate setting controls whether ZDR applies to documents uploaded through the Playground.
ZDR is available on the Team and Enterprise plans, in both the US and EU regions. It is enabled in Organization Settings and is not available on the Explore plan. See Plans & Billing for plan-level availability.
HIPAA Compliance and PHI Handling
HIPAA-compliant PHI processing in ADE requires two conditions to be met simultaneously.
- ZDR must be enabled on the account. PHI submitted without ZDR active is outside the scope of LandingAI's HIPAA-compliant service.
- A signed Business Associate Agreement must be in place between your organization and LandingAI. The BAA process is initiated through the Organization Settings page after ZDR is enabled.
HIPAA-compliant processing is available on the Team and Enterprise plans. Free tier and standard API access do not constitute a HIPAA-compliant environment and should not be used for PHI.
A global Tier-1 bank used ADE to process client due diligence documents at scale, including KYC workflows involving sensitive financial and identity data, deployed on the bank's own Virtual Private Cloud.
Compliance Certifications
LandingAI ADE is SOC 2 Type II certified and GDPR compliant, and supports HIPAA processing under the conditions above. Certifications are verifiable through the Trust Center and documented on the Security and Compliance page.
SOC 2 Type II. LandingAI has completed an independent audit against the AICPA trust services criteria for security, availability, and confidentiality. Type II provides assurance covering a defined audit period rather than a point-in-time snapshot.
GDPR. LandingAI is compliant with the General Data Protection Regulation. The EU region on AWS EU (Ireland) satisfies data residency requirements for workloads that restrict document data from leaving EU borders. Documentation is available through the Trust Center.
HIPAA. Supported with ZDR enabled and a signed BAA in place, as described above. HIPAA is a conditional compliance posture rather than a certification LandingAI holds independently of those conditions.
EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework. LandingAI is working toward certification under the DPF. Verify current status through the Trust Center before finalizing any procurement assessment that requires it.
EU Region and Data Residency
ADE is available in the EU region for workloads subject to GDPR or data residency requirements that restrict document data from leaving the European Union.
The EU deployment runs on AWS EU (Ireland), with all data stored and processed within the EU. API keys are region-specific, and pricing is the same in the US and EU regions. ZDR is available in the EU on the Team and Enterprise plans.
See the EU documentation for region-specific endpoints, library configuration, and account setup.
Containerized Deployment on Customer VPC
ADE is available as a containerized application deployable in your own Virtual Private Cloud on AWS, Azure, or GCP.
In this deployment, ADE maintains zero data retention because it is on your VPC. LandingAI is not responsible for zero data retention related to your infrastructure or any sub-processors you integrate, such as your own LLM API keys. Your organization is responsible for managing these.
VPC and on-premises deployments are available on Enterprise plans. Contact LandingAI through the enterprise contact page to initiate this option or to confirm air-gapped deployment support for your specific requirements.
Access Controls and Audit Infrastructure
Member roles. ADE organizations use two member roles, Developer and Admin. Both can process documents and create API keys. Admins additionally revoke other members' API keys, invite and remove members, change roles, manage billing, and update the organization name.
Single Sign-On. SSO through SAML 2.0 and OpenID Connect is available on Enterprise plans, allowing organizations to enforce corporate authentication policies through their existing identity provider.
Audit logs. Immutable records of critical user and system activity, actively monitored by LandingAI's security team, per the Security and Compliance page.
Data segregation. Customer data is logically isolated in the multi-tenant architecture, so no cross-tenant data access is possible.
FAQ
Does LandingAI use documents I submit to ADE to train its models?
When ZDR is enabled, LandingAI does not use your data for training or improving its models. Under the standard configuration without ZDR, LandingAI's Terms of Service and your customer agreement govern data use.
Can I process HIPAA-regulated documents with LandingAI ADE?
Yes, on the Team and Enterprise plans, provided ZDR is enabled and a signed Business Associate Agreement is in place. Both conditions are required simultaneously. Free-tier and standard API access do not satisfy HIPAA requirements and should not be used for PHI. The BAA process is initiated through the Organization Settings page once ZDR is enabled.
What is the difference between enabling ZDR and using the EU region for GDPR compliance?
They address different requirements.
The EU region ensures that document data is stored and processed within European Union borders, satisfying data residency obligations under GDPR. ZDR ensures that customer data is not persisted beyond processing, regardless of which region handles the request.
Both can be used together. EU accounts support ZDR on the Team and Enterprise plans.
Is there a deployment option that keeps document data entirely within my own infrastructure?
Yes. ADE is available as a containerized application deployable in a customer-owned VPC on AWS, Azure, or GCP, available on Enterprise plans. In that deployment, ADE maintains zero data retention because it runs on your VPC. Contact LandingAI through the enterprise contact page to initiate this option or to confirm air-gapped deployment support.
Does ADE support processing documents that contain a mix of sensitive and non-sensitive data?
ADE processes documents at the file level and does not selectively redact or skip fields based on sensitivity classification before extraction.
If a submitted document contains PII or PHI, the appropriate controls, ZDR and a HIPAA BAA, should be applied to the entire pipeline. Workflows requiring pre-processing redaction should handle that step upstream before submitting documents to the API.