Best practices for handling audio data and transcriptions with Deepgram, including secure upload with encryption, PII redaction, data retention policies, GDPR compliance, and audit logging.
Validate audio format (WAV/MP3/FLAC headers), encrypt with AES-256-GCM via KMS data keys, upload to S3 with server-side encryption, and set expiration metadata.
Apply regex-based redaction for SSN, credit card, phone, email, and date of birth patterns. Also use Deepgram's built-in redact option for PCI/SSN/numbers.
Define policies: standard (30 days), legal hold (7 years), HIPAA (6 years). Auto-enforce retention by scanning S3 objects and deleting expired items in batches.
Process deletion requests by removing transcripts from database, audio files from S3, and user metadata. Log all deletions for audit. Support data export for portability.
Log all data access events with tamper-evident hashing. Forward to external SIEM if configured.
See detailed implementation for advanced patterns.
| Issue | Cause | Solution |
|---|---|---|
| Invalid audio format | Wrong file type | Validate magic bytes before upload |
| Encryption failure | KMS unavailable | Retry with backoff, alert ops |
| Retention miss | Cron failure | Monitor retention job, add alerts |
| GDPR incomplete | Partial deletion | Transaction-based deletion with rollback |
Upload -> Process -> Store -> Retain -> Archive -> Delete
| | | | | |
Encrypt Transcribe Save Review Compress Secure Delete
| Regulation | Key Requirements |
|---|---|
| GDPR | Data minimization, right to deletion, consent |
| HIPAA | PHI protection, access controls, audit logs |
| SOC 2 | Security controls, availability, confidentiality |
| PCI DSS | Data encryption, access logging |