Comparisons
COMPARISON
Locke vs VPN and Zero Trust Network Access
VPN and Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA) secure the transport layer and enforce who can connect to what. They answer 'who's allowed to reach this?' — not 'what's allowed inside the connection?' A ZTNA policy can stop an employee from reaching an unapproved AI provider. It can't stop them from typing an SSN into an approved one. Different threat models, different layers.
When VPN and Zero Trust Network Access fits
- You need to control which AI services employees can access at the network level — blocking unsanctioned providers entirely.
- Your security architecture requires all traffic to route through a corporate egress point for visibility and logging.
- You need to enforce identity and device posture requirements before any AI service can be reached.
When Locke fits
- You have already decided which AI tools are approved and want to control what data goes into prompts on those tools.
- Blocking approved tools is not the goal — governing what sensitive content reaches them is.
- You need on-device control that operates at the content level, not the connection level.
Side-by-side
| Dimension | Locke | VPN and Zero Trust |
|---|---|---|
| What it controls | What specific data fields appear in prompts — field-level content control. | Which services can be reached — connection-level access control. |
| Where it operates | At the device, inside the browser, at the moment of prompt composition. | At the network layer, between the device and the destination. |
| Can it prevent PHI from reaching an approved AI tool? | Yes — masks or removes sensitive data before submission. | No — only controls whether the connection is allowed, not the content. |
| Covers unsanctioned browser-based AI tools | Yes — same controls on any AI chat interface regardless of policy status. | Can block access entirely; cannot inspect the content of allowed tools. |
| Best for | Controlling what sensitive data reaches approved AI services. | Controlling which AI services employees can access at all. |
Bottom line
VPN and Zero Trust control access to AI services. Locke controls the content that reaches them. Most organisations serious about AI risk end up wanting both — ZTNA to approve the tools, Locke to make sure even approved tools never see the most sensitive fields.
