openclaw/docs/security/data-handling.md

title	summary	permalink
Data Handling Policy	How Moltbot handles user data, retention, logging, and privacy.	/security/data-handling/

Data Handling Policy

This document describes how Moltbot handles user data, including storage, retention, logging, and user rights.

Data Categories

1. Configuration Data

Location: ~/.clawdbot/clawdbot.json or config.yaml

Contents:

• LLM provider settings (model, temperature, etc.)
• Channel configuration (enabled platforms)
• Gateway settings (host, port, auth mode)
• Tool and skill preferences

Retention: Persists until user deletes or modifies

Protection: File permissions (0o600)

2. Credentials and Secrets

Location: System keychain (preferred) or ~/.clawdbot/credentials/

Contents:

• API keys for LLM providers
• Bot tokens for messaging platforms (Discord, Telegram, Slack)
• OAuth tokens and session data

Retention: Persists until explicitly revoked or rotated

Protection:

• System keychain (macOS Keychain, Linux Secret Service) when available
• AES-256-GCM encryption with PBKDF2 key derivation for file fallback
• Machine-derived encryption keys

Deletion: Use clawdbot config unset or delete from system keychain

3. Session Data

Location: ~/.clawdbot/sessions/

Contents:

• Conversation history with LLM
• Tool execution results
• Agent state and context

Retention: Configurable via session.maxMessages and session.ttl

Protection: File permissions (0o600), isolated per agent ID

Deletion: clawdbot session clear or delete session files directly

4. Pairing and Authorization Data

Location: ~/.clawdbot/credentials/<channel>-pairing.json and <channel>-allowFrom.json

Contents:

• Pending pairing requests with codes
• Authorized sender IDs per channel

Retention:

• Pending requests: 1 hour TTL
• Authorized senders: Persists until removed

Protection:

• HMAC-SHA256 signatures for integrity verification
• File permissions (0o600)
• Rate limiting on approval attempts

Deletion: clawdbot pairing revoke or edit allowFrom files

5. Message Content

What is stored:

• Messages are passed to the LLM provider for processing
• Session history may include message excerpts for context

What is NOT stored by default:

• Full message history is not logged to disk
• Attachments are not persistently stored

LLM Provider Data:

• Message content is sent to configured LLM providers
• Subject to provider's data retention policies
• See provider documentation for details

6. Logs

Location: Configured via logging settings

Default behavior:

• Errors and warnings logged to console
• No persistent disk logging by default

When enabled:

• Log files may contain error messages and stack traces
• Debug logging may include request/response data
• Sensitive data (tokens, credentials) should be redacted

Retention: Configurable, no automatic rotation by default

User Rights

Access Your Data

Users can access their data through:

• Reading configuration files directly
• Using clawdbot config show for settings
• Using clawdbot session list for conversations
• Checking system keychain for stored secrets

Export Your Data

To export all Moltbot data:

# Configuration
cp ~/.clawdbot/clawdbot.json ~/clawdbot-backup/

# Sessions
cp -r ~/.clawdbot/sessions/ ~/clawdbot-backup/sessions/

# Pairing and authorization
cp ~/.clawdbot/credentials/*.json ~/clawdbot-backup/credentials/

# Note: Keychain credentials must be exported via system tools

Delete Your Data

To remove all Moltbot data:

# Stop the gateway
clawdbot gateway stop

# Remove all local data
rm -rf ~/.clawdbot/

# Remove keychain entries (macOS)
security delete-generic-password -s "clawdbot" -a "*"

# Remove keychain entries (Linux)
secret-tool clear service clawdbot

Data Portability

Configuration and session data are stored in JSON format and can be:

• Backed up and restored
• Migrated to another machine
• Inspected with standard tools

Data Flow

Inbound Messages

Channel (WhatsApp/Telegram/etc.)
    ↓
Gateway (auth check, rate limit)
    ↓
Prompt Injection Check
    ↓
LLM Provider (OpenAI/Anthropic/etc.)
    ↓
Response Processing
    ↓
Tool Execution (if requested)
    ↓
Channel Response

Outbound Data

Data leaves the system in these cases:

1. LLM API calls: Message content sent to configured provider
2. Channel responses: Bot replies sent to messaging platforms
3. Tool execution: Commands may access network resources
4. Browser automation: Web requests as directed by user

Third-Party Services

LLM Providers

Moltbot integrates with:

• OpenAI (ChatGPT, GPT-4)
• Anthropic (Claude)
• Google (Gemini)
• Local models (Ollama)

Each provider has their own data handling policies. Review:

• OpenAI Privacy Policy
• Anthropic Privacy Policy
• Google AI Privacy

Messaging Platforms

Each connected channel has its own privacy implications:

• WhatsApp: End-to-end encrypted, but bot can read messages it receives
• Telegram: Bot API messages are not end-to-end encrypted
• Discord: Subject to Discord's terms and privacy policy
• Slack: Workspace-level data access policies apply

Consent Model

Explicit Consent Required For:

• Initial bot setup and configuration
• Connecting to messaging platforms
• Executing shell commands (approval mode)
• Pairing new authorized senders

Implicit Consent (by using the bot):

• Messages being processed by LLM
• Session data being stored locally
• Rate limiting and security logging

No Consent Possible (always active):

• Security controls (blocklists, rate limits)
• Prompt injection detection
• Credential encryption

Compliance Considerations

GDPR (if applicable)

• Right to access: Users can read their data directly
• Right to erasure: Delete data as documented above
• Data portability: JSON format enables export
• Processing records: Not maintained by default

Security Best Practices

• Credentials stored in system keychain when possible
• File permissions restrict access to owner
• Sensitive data encrypted at rest
• No telemetry or analytics by default

Changes to This Policy

This policy may be updated as features change. Significant changes will be noted in the changelog.

---

Last updated: 2026-01-27