diff --git a/litellm/proxy/guardrails/guardrail_hooks/ovalix/ovalix.py b/litellm/proxy/guardrails/guardrail_hooks/ovalix/ovalix.py
index 756ac150314..74d4e291666 100644
--- a/litellm/proxy/guardrails/guardrail_hooks/ovalix/ovalix.py
+++ b/litellm/proxy/guardrails/guardrail_hooks/ovalix/ovalix.py
@@ -196,12 +196,12 @@ class OvalixGuardrail(CustomGuardrail):
             return metadata["user_api_key_user_email"]
         if metadata.get("user_api_key_user_id"):
             return metadata["user_api_key_user_id"]
-        return "unknown"
+        return ""
 
     def _get_tracker_actor_id(self, data: dict) -> str:
         """Normalize the actor string into a short, stable id for Tracker API payloads."""
         # NOTE: this hash is purely for normalization — it collapses an arbitrary actor
-        # string (email, user id, or "unknown") into a compact, fixed-length, consistent
+        # string (email, user id, or empty) into a compact, fixed-length, consistent
         # key. It is not a privacy/security measure and the actor value is not sensitive,
         # so a plain SHA-256 (truncated) is sufficient; no salting/KDF is needed here.
         actor_id = self._get_actor(data).encode()
@@ -311,7 +311,7 @@ class OvalixGuardrail(CustomGuardrail):
         logging_obj: Optional[Any] = None,
     ) -> GenericGuardrailAPIInputs:
         routing = await self._resolve_routing(request_data)
-        actor = self._get_tracker_actor_id(request_data)
+        actor = self._get_actor(request_data)
         session_id = self._get_session_id_for_application(request_data, routing.application_id)
         is_response = input_type == "response"
 
diff --git a/tests/test_litellm/proxy/guardrails/guardrail_hooks/test_ovalix.py b/tests/test_litellm/proxy/guardrails/guardrail_hooks/test_ovalix.py
index 4c656896c3d..1342dd5cbe7 100644
--- a/tests/test_litellm/proxy/guardrails/guardrail_hooks/test_ovalix.py
+++ b/tests/test_litellm/proxy/guardrails/guardrail_hooks/test_ovalix.py
@@ -590,7 +590,7 @@ class TestOvalixGuardrail:
             assert guardrail._get_actor({"metadata": {"user_api_key_user_email": "a@b.com"}}) == "a@b.com"
             assert guardrail._get_actor({"metadata": {"user_api_key_user_id": "uid-1"}}) == "uid-1"
             assert guardrail._get_actor({"litellm_metadata": {"user_api_key_user_id": "uid-2"}}) == "uid-2"
-            assert guardrail._get_actor({}) == "unknown"
+            assert guardrail._get_actor({}) == ""
         finally:
             for k in _ovalix_env():
                 if k in os.environ:
@@ -994,6 +994,45 @@ async def test_all_allow_passes_through():
     assert result["texts"] == ["hi"]
 
 
+@pytest.mark.asyncio
+async def test_actor_sent_to_tracker_is_raw_identifier_not_hash():
+    g = _static_guardrail()
+    request_data = {"metadata": {"user_api_key_user_email": "user@example.com"}}
+    inputs = GenericGuardrailAPIInputs(texts=["hi"])
+    seen = {}
+
+    async def _post(url, headers=None, json=None):
+        seen["last"] = json
+        r = MagicMock()
+        r.json.return_value = _ALLOW
+        r.raise_for_status = MagicMock()
+        return r
+
+    with patch.object(g._async_handler, "post", new=_post):
+        await g.apply_guardrail(inputs=inputs, request_data=request_data, input_type="request", logging_obj=None)
+    assert seen["last"]["actor"] == "user@example.com"
+    assert seen["last"]["session_id"] != "user@example.com"
+    assert g._get_tracker_actor_id(request_data) in seen["last"]["session_id"]
+
+
+@pytest.mark.asyncio
+async def test_empty_user_sends_empty_actor_matching_reference():
+    g = _static_guardrail()
+    inputs = GenericGuardrailAPIInputs(texts=["hi"])
+    seen = {}
+
+    async def _post(url, headers=None, json=None):
+        seen["last"] = json
+        r = MagicMock()
+        r.json.return_value = _ALLOW
+        r.raise_for_status = MagicMock()
+        return r
+
+    with patch.object(g._async_handler, "post", new=_post):
+        await g.apply_guardrail(inputs=inputs, request_data={}, input_type="request", logging_obj=None)
+    assert seen["last"]["actor"] == ""
+
+
 @pytest.mark.asyncio
 async def test_tool_result_content_skipped_on_text_path():
     g = _static_guardrail()