---
slug: "DataMinimization"
name: "DataMinimization"
type: "Protocols"
layer: "Society"
ref: "DataMinimization#e8c8"
sema_id: "sema:DataMinimization#mh:SHA-256:e8c8cd89b8e187d501000746c5216fef9ea41558a20fde07372881a2948994eb"
tags: ["Society","Protocols"]
updated: 2026-11-11
mindscape: "bootstrap"
index_url: https://mindscape.world/scapes/bootstrap.json
url: https://mindscape.world/bootstrap/DataMinimization/
related: ["AcceptSpec","Agent","Context","ContextCompress","Correlation","InputGuard","Protocol","Select","Task"]
---

# DataMinimization

Ingest only what is strictly necessary

Layer: Society · Category: Protocols

## Mechanism

Information Hygiene [Protocol](https://mindscape.world/scapes/bootstrap/Protocol.md). Before ingesting a [Context](https://mindscape.world/scapes/bootstrap/Context.md) or Dataset, the [Agent](https://mindscape.world/scapes/bootstrap/Agent.md) MUST execute a filtering pass to remove all fields/tokens not strictly necessary for the immediate `[Task](https://mindscape.world/scapes/bootstrap/Task.md).Goal`. This enforces the Principle of Least Privilege for data access. It invokes [InputGuard](https://mindscape.world/scapes/bootstrap/InputGuard.md) to filter raw ingress, employing [Select](https://mindscape.world/scapes/bootstrap/Select.md) to fetch only required fields and [ContextCompress](https://mindscape.world/scapes/bootstrap/ContextCompress.md) to drop transient processing data.

## Invariants

- Ephemeral Processing: Sensitive data used for intermediate steps must be dropped from [Context](https://mindscape.world/scapes/bootstrap/Context.md) immediately after use.
- Necessity: Every data field ingested must map to a specific requirement in `[Task](https://mindscape.world/scapes/bootstrap/Task.md).[AcceptSpec](https://mindscape.world/scapes/bootstrap/AcceptSpec.md)`.

## Preconditions

- Raw data source available
- [Task](https://mindscape.world/scapes/bootstrap/Task.md) goal defined

## Postconditions

- Clean context created
- Raw source discarded or closed

## Failure modes

- [Context](https://mindscape.world/scapes/bootstrap/Context.md) Hoarding: [Agent](https://mindscape.world/scapes/bootstrap/Agent.md) retains sensitive data 'just in case' it is needed later.
- [Correlation](https://mindscape.world/scapes/bootstrap/Correlation.md) Attack: Seemingly innocent minimized data points combined to reveal PII.

## Builds on

- [AcceptSpec](https://mindscape.world/scapes/bootstrap/AcceptSpec.md) (Infrastructure; References)
- [Agent](https://mindscape.world/scapes/bootstrap/Agent.md) (Mind; References)
- [Context](https://mindscape.world/scapes/bootstrap/Context.md) (Infrastructure; References)
- [ContextCompress](https://mindscape.world/scapes/bootstrap/ContextCompress.md) (Mind; References)
- [Correlation](https://mindscape.world/scapes/bootstrap/Correlation.md) (Infrastructure; References)
- [InputGuard](https://mindscape.world/scapes/bootstrap/InputGuard.md) (Infrastructure; References)
- [Protocol](https://mindscape.world/scapes/bootstrap/Protocol.md) (Infrastructure; References)
- [Select](https://mindscape.world/scapes/bootstrap/Select.md) (Infrastructure; References)
- [Task](https://mindscape.world/scapes/bootstrap/Task.md) (Infrastructure; References)

## Used by

—

## Identity

- Sema ID: `sema:DataMinimization#mh:SHA-256:e8c8cd89b8e187d501000746c5216fef9ea41558a20fde07372881a2948994eb`
- Ref: `DataMinimization#e8c8`
- Supersedes:
  - `sema:DataMinimization#mh:SHA-256:ea9c44501d3df27b306df5e0232df276b47b3a2d48d3e6b5c32590a15867e653`
  - `sema:DataMinimization#mh:SHA-256:0b54a9716e554f7198c94df50c7d6294fd772b8a939e5ac49f82d5c70eedb8fc`
  - `sema:DataMinimization#mh:SHA-256:4acfb59bfe56143484d061281b8f3669d1dc7cb79ba78fabde6134268ff1ef2b`
  - `sema:DataMinimization#mh:SHA-256:402b69918ea04f9625ad93eb4c142be88bf561f04fdc04ed03880f48d1cf9c6f`
  - `sema:DataMinimization#mh:SHA-256:6ffafda36651f71ad0f2c424cc1489229164120564b1ecb56eacd3e299cdad9c`

## Links

- [Pattern page](https://mindscape.world/bootstrap/DataMinimization/)
- [View in the interactive graph](https://mindscape.world/bootstrap/#DataMinimization)
- [JSON](https://mindscape.world/scapes/bootstrap/DataMinimization.json)
- [Index of all patterns](https://mindscape.world/scapes/bootstrap.json)