The forbidden index: Building privacy-preserving search with OpenSearch

At OpenSearchCon Europe 2026, Unnati Mishra and Akshat Khanna presented a method for handling search privacy during the data ingest phase rather than through retroactive access controls. They introduced a custom plugin for real-time PII redaction and implemented differential privacy in dashboards to protect individual identities while maintaining analytical utility. Additionally, they launched an open-source "privacy score" audit tool to help organizations identify and remediate sensitive data leaks within their existing search infrastructure.