Security & privacy
What data the AI can access through the Strella connector, who can make changes, how sign-in works, who can see your conversations, and how to disconnect.
The connector uses your existing Strella account and permissions. It doesn't grant the AI any access you don't already have, and Strella uploads nothing to the AI provider until you ask a question that needs it.
What data can the AI access?
The same projects, participants, and transcripts you can reach in Strella, with one limit on personal information. An admin can control how much participant personal information (names, emails, profile photos, demographics, recordings, and responses) the AI reads on your behalf, field by field. That control applies to AI assistants and the API, so the AI may read less participant detail than you do when you sign in to the dashboard directly. See Participant data access.
Is my research data stored by the AI provider?
When you ask about your data, the AI fetches it from Strella and includes it in your conversation. The AI provider (Anthropic, OpenAI, etc.) processes it within that conversation, subject to their own data policies. Strella only sends data to the AI provider when you request it. Nothing is uploaded proactively or in bulk. Most AI providers also offer privacy modes or enterprise plans where conversation data is not used for model training.
Who can see my conversations?
Your conversations are private to you. Other people in your organization cannot see what you asked, what data was returned, or what insights the AI generated. This works the same way regular conversations do in Claude or ChatGPT.
How does sign-in work?
When you connect Strella, you sign in with your existing Strella account. This creates a secure link between your AI tool and Strella. Your Strella password is never shared with the AI provider: the sign-in uses a secure redirect (OAuth 2.0 with PKCE) so only Strella ever sees your credentials.
Who can make changes through the connector?
Everyone in your organization except Viewers. Viewers can browse, search, and analyze research through the AI, but Strella rejects any request from them that creates or edits something, such as a project, quota, share link, recruitment draft, or image upload.
The connector follows your Strella role, so it never lets the AI do more than you could do yourself. An admin changes a teammate's role under Settings → Members.
What can an image upload command do?
When your AI uploads images into a question guide, Strella gives it single-use upload commands. Each command stores one image in your organization, and nothing else: it can't read your research or change a guide. A command stops working once it's used, or after 15 minutes. Until then it works like a password. Your AI shows you a command only if you ask for it, and your AI tool may also show it in the tool's results, so don't share that part of a conversation.
Does the AI ask before changing my data?
Your AI tool controls whether to ask, not Strella. Strella labels every tool as either read-only or one that changes data, and your AI tool uses that label to choose when to ask.
AI tools typically ask for your approval before running a tool that changes data. Most also let you choose, tool by tool:
- Always allow: the tool runs without asking.
- Ask every time: you approve each use.
- Never allow: the AI can't use the tool.
For read-only access, set each tool that changes data to never allow. You'll find these options in your AI tool's settings for the Strella connector.
How do I disconnect?
Go to your AI tool's connector settings and remove Strella. Once removed, the AI can no longer fetch data from your Strella account. You can reconnect at a later time by adding Strella again and signing in.
What about my organization's data policies?
If your organization has specific data handling requirements, talk to your org admin before connecting. For questions about Strella's security practices, contact us at customersupport@strella.io.