Worry about AI reading mail is seldom a refusal of better summaries. It is a refusal to trade entire emails for cleverness. Orvia splits the work: deterministic facts and safety boundaries stay in on-device rules; ambiguous language and intent may reach on-device or redacted cloud models only when you allow it; the Mac still decides what appears and which actions are available.

Privacy is enforced through routing, minimization, redaction, output checks, and actions that require your gesture. Source labels in the interface describe the outcome. They do not replace those gates.

Layers that work together

Tier 0
Local rulesCodes, orders, status, verified actions. No upload.
Tier 1
On-device AISummaries, task intent, reply understanding. Still on Mac.
Tier 2
Redacted cloudProxy only; random placeholders; off by default.
Final
On-device mergeAI cannot override safety or expiry. Actions need your click.

Local Smart Insights extracts explicit facts: codes, dates, amounts, order IDs, status, expiry, authentication results, and executable security actions. Every supported mail provider can run it. No body upload, no free-form guessing.

On-device models (when the system allows and you turn them on) handle contextual cues, task intent, summaries, and reply understanding on the current Mac. They must not overturn verified local facts or trigger copy, open, or send actions on their own.

Redacted cloud goes only through the Orvia AI Proxy; production builds do not ship upstream model keys. Text leaves only when the mail provider permits it, mailbox policy permits it, you enable cloud AI, and the privacy gateway approves the request. High-risk credentials and sensitive business content are blocked at the gateway.

The on-device integration layer combines sources, checks evidence, and decides which cards and buttons appear. AI may add meaning; it must not override safety, expiry, or completed and invalid states. Insight Island V1 consumes only locally verified security actions after that merge.

Local first, then enhance

Local result firstTier 0 runs immediately; no blank card wait.
Gmail?Restricted to on-device processing before any cloud path.
User & mailbox switchesCloud AI off by default; mailbox policy only tightens.
Privacy gatewayBlock high-risk; random placeholders if allowed.
Proxy → modelSees redacted text only; map restores on Mac.
Merge & decideAI may add meaning; safety and expiry stay local.

When mail opens or arrives, local rules run immediately and show useful results without waiting on a model. If non-Gmail routing allows, enhancement may follow in the background and update semantic regions of the same insight card. On timeout, quota, network failure, gateway refusal, or failed output checks, whatever local insight already works remains.

How redaction works

Demo · AI redaction

On Mac (original)

Would leave the device

Illustration only: secrets stay highlighted on-device; outbound text uses random placeholders. No network calls.

Cloud paths replace recoverable fields with random, unpredictable placeholders. The map lives only in the on-device session. The model sees prose such as “send order __ORVIA_ORDER_…__ to __ORVIA_EMAIL_…__”; restoration happens on the Mac. Outputs must preserve every placeholder; raw secrets or malformed placeholders are rejected.

Even with a non-Gmail account, cloud AI enabled, and an active entitlement, some mail stays on-device: verification and security messages, Gmail under its local-only policy, senders blocked by privacy rules, and content that cannot be safely redacted or restored. A subscription grants access to eligible AI services; it does not bypass provider restrictions, mailbox policy, sensitivity checks, or your settings.

Relation to Insight Island

Copying codes and opening trusted verify links at the top of the window are local security actions. The shortest path need not wait for a model, and inference is not promoted to a high-risk top-of-window control.

Fuller data handling is in the Privacy Policy; the companion product note is Grab the code, skip the email; product entry points live under Insights.