Are embeddings personal data? RAG and GDPR explained
Short answer: Do not assume an embedding is anonymous. An embedding can be matched back to the text it came from, and the text is usually stored right next to it. Treat each representation in a RAG pipeline as personal data when it can still be tied to a person, which is most of the time for chunk text. When the source record is deleted, every copy has to go. Your team builds a RAG assistant over HR policy and customer contracts. Documents go in, get chunked, get embedded, and land in a vector store.