Intercepting SSNs Before AI Calls
Scholeristical · reddit · 2026-07-16
The author added two layers of pre-filtering before AI calls:
- Server-side: Matches and blocks common US SSN formats, returning a 400 error immediately to prevent sensitive info from reaching the model.
- Client-side: Performs identical validation so users get instant feedback without waiting for a network round-trip.
They also implemented country/region gating, leveraging platform-provided IP country headers to reject non-US traffic, as the product isn't ready to handle international regulations and regional data policies. The author's takeaway is that much of "responsible AI" work fundamentally boils down to deciding what not to send to the model first, rather than constraining the model's handling of sensitive inputs after the fact.
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