Last updated: May 21, 2026
This Data Processing Agreement (hereinafter the “DPA”) governs the data protection rights and obligations of the parties with respect to the processing of personal data on behalf of the Controller in connection with the use of the Privatemode AI service (hereinafter the “Service”) provided by Edgeless Systems GmbH.
This DPA forms part of the Terms of Service. It becomes part of the contractual relationship as soon as the Controller begins using the Service; no separate signature is required (Art. 28(9) GDPR). The Processor makes the DPA as currently in effect available at a permanently accessible URL.
This DPA applies uniformly to all users of the Service; individual deviations require an express agreement in text form.
Controller
The user of the Service who has accepted the Terms of Service. The Controller within the meaning of Art. 4(7) GDPR is identified by the account information on file in the customer account (hereinafter the “Controller”).
Processor
Edgeless Systems GmbH, Stadionring 1, 44791 Bochum, Germany (hereinafter the “Processor”).
The Controller and the Processor are hereinafter collectively referred to as the “Parties”.
(1) To the extent the Processor processes personal data on behalf of the Controller in connection with providing the Service, the Parties enter into a controller-to-processor relationship within the meaning of Art. 28 GDPR. This DPA sets forth the resulting rights and obligations under the General Data Protection Regulation (Regulation (EU) 2016/679 – GDPR) and the German Federal Data Protection Act (BDSG).
(2) This DPA applies to the processing (Art. 4(2) GDPR) of all personal data (hereinafter “Data”) that arise in connection with the use of the Service under the Terms of Service and that are processed on the instructions of the Controller. Data relating to the Processor’s own personnel are outside the scope of this DPA to the extent they relate exclusively to the employment relationship with the Processor.
(3) In matters of data protection, this DPA takes precedence over the Terms of Service and any other agreements between the Parties, unless the Parties expressly agree otherwise in text form.
(1) The subject matter of the processing is the provision of an end-to-end encrypted inference infrastructure for generative AI models (Privatemode AI). The purpose of the processing is to process the inputs (prompts) submitted by the Controller in order to generate model responses in accordance with the Terms of Service and the related service description.
(2) The duration of the processing corresponds to the term of the usage relationship under the Terms of Service.
(3) The Controller determines, on its own responsibility, which personal data are processed, through the content of the inputs (prompts) it submits to the Service. The data processed will typically include any data types the Controller includes in its prompts, in particular text, document content, master data, contact data, and other content freely chosen by the Controller.
(4) The Controller determines, on its own responsibility, which categories of data subjects are affected, through the content of its prompts. These may include any individuals whose data the Controller includes in its inputs, in particular employees, customers, prospects, contractual partners, and any other natural persons referenced by the Controller.
(5) The processing of special categories of personal data within the meaning of Art. 9 GDPR is technically possible within the Service to the extent the Controller submits such data in its prompts. The Controller is solely responsible for ensuring that a valid legal basis under Art. 9(2) GDPR exists.
(6) The Controller determines, on its own responsibility, the protection level required for the personal data processed. The technical and organizational measures implemented by the Processor (Section 6) are designed to provide an appropriate level of protection even for personal data with a high protection requirement.
(1) The Processor processes the Data only on documented instructions from the Controller, including with regard to transfers to third countries (Art. 28(3)(a) GDPR). Processing required by Union or Member State law (e.g., requests for information from public authorities) is not affected; in such cases, the Processor will inform the Controller of the legal requirement prior to processing, unless the applicable law prohibits such notification on important grounds of public interest.
(2) The Controller’s instructions are initially set forth by the Terms of Service, the related service description, and the configurations and inputs (in particular prompts) made by the Controller in the course of using the Service. The Controller may modify, supplement, or replace such instructions in text form; the persons authorized to receive instructions on the Processor’s side are listed in Section 13.
(3) Persons authorized to issue instructions on the Controller’s side are the administrators or primary contacts registered in the customer account, and any persons authorized by them. Changes shall be made through the customer account.
(4) The Processor will inform the Controller without undue delay if, in its view, an instruction infringes data protection law. The Processor is entitled to suspend execution of such an instruction until it is confirmed or modified by the Controller.
(5) Changes to the subject matter of the processing that involve procedural changes will be communicated by the Processor in an appropriate manner (e.g., by updating the service description).
(1) The Processor ensures that persons authorized to process the Data have committed themselves to confidentiality or are under an appropriate statutory obligation of confidentiality (Art. 28(3)(b) GDPR). Such persons are instructed on the limitations on instructions and purpose binding under this DPA.
(2) The Processor appoints a data protection officer to the extent required by law, and otherwise a data protection contact. Current contact details are made available in the customer account or on the Processor’s website and may also be requested at hello@privatemode.ai.
(3) The Processor will inform the Controller without undue delay of any inspections, measures, or inquiries by supervisory authorities to the extent they concern the Controller or its Data.
(4) The Processor and the persons it engages for processing will process the Data only for the purposes agreed in this DPA. No copies or duplicates will be made without the Controller’s knowledge, except for backups required to ensure proper data processing and data required to comply with statutory retention obligations.
(1) The Processor will, by appropriate technical and organizational measures, assist the Controller insofar as possible in fulfilling its obligation to respond to requests from data subjects exercising their rights under Chapter III of the GDPR (Art. 28(3)(e) GDPR).
(2) If a data subject contacts the Processor directly to exercise a data subject right, the Processor will promptly forward the request to the Controller and will not respond independently unless the Controller has expressly instructed otherwise.
(3) The Processor will assist the Controller in complying with the obligations set forth in Art. 32 to 36 GDPR (security of processing, notification and communication of personal data breaches, data protection impact assessment, prior consultation), taking into account the nature of the processing and the information available to the Processor (Art. 28(3)(f) GDPR).
(4) The Processor will provide information to third parties or to a data subject only with the prior consent of the Controller in text form, unless the Processor is required to disclose such information under Union or Member State law.
(1) The Processor will implement all technical and organizational measures (TOMs) required under Art. 32 GDPR to ensure a level of security appropriate to the risk. The TOMs in effect as of the date this DPA takes effect are documented in Section 7.
(2) Technical and organizational measures evolve with the state of the art. The Processor is entitled to implement alternative adequate measures, provided that the security level set out in Section 7 is not reduced. Material changes will be documented by the Processor and made available to the Controller upon request.
(3) Upon request, the Processor will make available to the Controller all information necessary to demonstrate compliance with the obligations set out in this DPA and in Art. 28 GDPR, and will allow for and contribute to audits, including inspections (Art. 28(3)(h) GDPR). Such demonstration may also be provided by submitting current attestations, reports from independent bodies (e.g., auditors or data protection auditors), approved codes of conduct under Art. 40 GDPR, or a certification under Art. 42 GDPR.
(4) Demonstration under paragraph (3) is provided primarily by submitting suitable documents (in particular current attestations, certificates, audit reports, or a confirmation of conformity with approved codes of conduct). On-site inspections will be considered only where such documents are not sufficient or where there are specific indications of a material data protection violation; they must be announced with appropriate advance notice in text form and conducted in a manner that does not unreasonably interfere with the Processor’s business operations. Any costs incurred by the Processor in supporting such inspections will be borne by the Controller, unless a material violation by the Processor is established.
(5) The Processor will inform the Controller without undue delay of the withdrawal or material modification of any certification or approved code of conduct relied on for purposes of paragraph (3).
To comply with Art. 32 GDPR, the Processor implements in particular the following measures.
Privatemode AI is designed for end-to-end encryption and confidential computing; personal data are not viewed in cleartext or persistently stored by the Processor or by any sub-processors engaged.
| No. | Measure | Implementation in the Service |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Encryption of personal data (Art. 32(1)(a) GDPR) | End-to-end encryption between the Controller’s client and the Confidential Virtual Machine (CVM). Data are encrypted on the Controller’s side and transmitted only in encrypted form. Attested TLS (aTLS) secures key exchange. Processing takes place exclusively in AMD SEV-SNP-based CVMs, which keep data encrypted during processing (confidential computing). |
| 2 | Confidentiality, integrity, availability, and resilience (Art. 32(1)(b) GDPR) | Confidential computing isolates workloads with hardware-backed enforcement. Cryptographic remote attestation verifies the authenticity of hardware and software prior to each processing operation. The Service runs on highly available cloud infrastructure in the EU. |
| 3 | Restorability (Art. 32(1)(c) GDPR) | The Service does not persistently store personal payload data; restoration of content is therefore not required. Availability of the platform itself is ensured through redundant cloud infrastructure. |
| 4 | Regular review of effectiveness (Art. 32(1)(d) GDPR) | Remote attestation enables continuous verification of the software components in use and of the protected runtime environment. Regular internal audits and external security assessments are conducted in addition. |
| 5 | User identification and authorization | Access is by API keys, which the Controller is responsible for safeguarding. Access to API endpoints is TLS-encrypted. |
| 6 | Protection of data in transit | Data are transmitted exclusively over TLS-secured channels. Payload data (prompts and model responses) are additionally end-to-end encrypted between the client and the CVM. |
| 7 | Protection of data during processing and storage | No persistent storage of payload data. Data reside only temporarily in the encrypted main memory of the CVMs and are automatically purged after processing. |
| 8 | Physical security of processing locations | Processing takes place exclusively in certified data centers of the cloud providers used (see Section 9), which meet ISO/IEC 27001 or comparable standards. |
| 9 | Logging | Operational and security events in the CVMs and APIs are logged. Remote attestation logs the authenticity of the software and hardware in use. Payload data (prompt content) are not logged. |
| 10 | System configuration and hardening | Privatemode AI uses an immutable operating system and trusted CVM environments. Remote attestation ensures that only authorized configurations are executed at runtime. |
| 11 | Internal governance | Development and operations processes follow the four-eyes principle for code reviews; builds are reproducible. |
| 12 | Quality and transparency assurance | Reproducible builds and open-source components enable verifiability. Strict CI/CD processes ensure the reliability and security of the software. |
| 13 | Data minimization and purpose limitation | Processing takes place only for the steps necessary to provide the Service. No personal data are stored beyond the processing period. |
| 14 | Data quality | Processing takes place exclusively in verified confidential-computing environments, in which data cannot be undetectably altered or compromised during processing. |
| 15 | Limited storage duration | Data are held only for the duration of the processing operation in the encrypted RAM of the CVMs and are automatically purged upon completion of processing. |
| 16 | Data portability and deletion | Because no personal data are persistently stored, separate data portability or deletion by the Processor is not required; automatic removal from memory occurs at the end of processing. |
| 17 | Assistance to the Controller | Technical documentation is available to the Controller at any time at https://docs.privatemode.ai/. Additional support is provided through the contractually agreed support channels (e.g., email, telephone). |
(1) The Processor will notify the Controller without undue delay, and in any event within 48 hours of becoming aware, of any personal data breach occurring at the Processor or at a sub-processor in connection with the processing under this DPA (Art. 33(2) GDPR).
(2) The notification will include, to the extent known to the Processor: the nature of the breach, the categories and approximate number of affected data subjects and records, the likely consequences, and the measures taken or proposed to address the breach and mitigate its possible adverse effects.
(3) The Processor will assist the Controller in fulfilling its notification obligations under Art. 33 and 34 GDPR. Notifications to the supervisory authority and communications to data subjects will be made by the Processor only on the Controller’s instructions.
(1) By accepting this DPA, the Controller grants the Processor general authorization to engage the sub-processors listed in paragraph (4) (Art. 28(2), first sentence, GDPR).
(2) The Processor will notify the Controller in text form at least 30 days in advance (in particular by email to the address on file in the customer account or by making the notice available in the customer account or on the website) of any intended changes regarding the addition or replacement of sub-processors. The Controller may object to the change in text form within 30 days of the notification on important data protection grounds; in the event of such an objection, either Party is entitled to terminate the usage relationship with reasonable notice.
(3) Before processing begins, the Processor will impose on each sub-processor by contract data protection obligations equivalent to those in this DPA, in particular sufficient guarantees regarding appropriate technical and organizational measures (Art. 28(4) GDPR). The Processor is liable to the Controller for the sub-processor’s performance of its obligations.
(4) As of the date this DPA takes effect, the following sub-processors are engaged for the services indicated below:
| Sub-processor (name, location) | Scope of services |
|---|---|
| Scaleway SAS, 8 Rue de la Ville l’Évêque, 75008 Paris, France | Provision of cloud infrastructure with confidential-computing capabilities in the EU |
| Lyceum Technology Germany GmbH, Ackerstraße 39, 10115 Berlin, Germany | Provision of cloud infrastructure with confidential-computing capabilities in the EU |
(5) Ancillary services used by the Processor in support of the processing (e.g., telecommunications, maintenance, cleaning, and security services) do not qualify as sub-processors within the meaning of this Section 9. The Processor will nonetheless take appropriate contractual and technical-organizational measures to protect the Data in those contexts.
(1) The processing of the Data takes place exclusively within the territory of the European Union (EU) or the European Economic Area (EEA).
(2) Transfers to a third country or to an international organization will take place only to the extent expressly permitted by this DPA and where the requirements of Chapter V of the GDPR are met (in particular an adequacy decision under Art. 45 GDPR or appropriate safeguards under Art. 46 GDPR, in particular EU Standard Contractual Clauses).
(1) By design, the Service does not persistently store personal payload data (prompts and model responses).
(2) To the extent the Processor has nonetheless processed personal data of the Controller (e.g., account and billing data), the Processor will, upon termination of the usage relationship, at the Controller’s choice delete or return all personal data (Art. 28(3)(g) GDPR), unless storage is required under Union or Member State law.
(3) The Processor is entitled to retain documentation evidencing proper data processing beyond the end of the contract in accordance with applicable statutory retention periods; the data will be deleted upon expiry of those periods.
(1) The Parties’ liability vis-à-vis data subjects is governed by Art. 82 GDPR.
(2) As between the Parties, the liability provisions of the Terms of Service apply in addition.
(1) Notices, instructions, and other declarations under this DPA shall be made in text form, preferably by email to hello@privatemode.ai. Oral instructions must be promptly confirmed by the Controller in text form.
(2) The following persons on the Processor’s side are authorized to receive instructions and other data protection-related communications:
(3) Persons authorized to issue instructions on the Controller’s side are the administrators or primary contacts registered in the customer account, and any persons authorized by them. Changes shall be made through the customer account.
(1) Amendments and supplements to this DPA will be made under the amendment procedure provided for in the Terms of Service. The Processor will notify the Controller of material changes in text form in good time (in particular by email to the address on file in the customer account or by making the notice available in the customer account). If the Controller does not object within the period set out in the Terms of Service, the amendment is deemed accepted, provided that the Processor, when notifying the change, has drawn the Controller’s attention to the meaning of its silence and granted it a reasonable period to respond. Individual deviations from this DPA require an express agreement in text form.
(2) If individual provisions of this DPA are or become invalid or unenforceable, the validity of the remaining provisions is not affected. The invalid or unenforceable provision will be replaced by the valid and enforceable provision whose effect most closely approximates the original intent. This applies accordingly to any gaps in the provisions.
(3) This DPA is governed by the laws of the Federal Republic of Germany, excluding the UN Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods. To the extent permitted by law, the exclusive place of jurisdiction for all disputes arising out of or in connection with this DPA is the Processor’s registered office.