Configuring PII Data Hashing
Learn how to protect sensitive user data by configuring PII data hashing after setting up Hardal
Configuring PII Data Hashing in Hardal
Overview
Privacy protection is a critical part of modern data collection. Hardal offers robust data redaction capabilities that allow you to hash personally identifiable information (PII) before it’s stored in your analytics database. This guide explains how to configure Hardal’s data hashing settings after your initial setup to ensure compliance with privacy regulations like GDPR, CCPA, and other data protection laws.
This guide assumes you have already completed the basic Hardal setup. If you haven’t set up Hardal yet, please refer to the Getting Started guide first.
Why Hash PII Data?
Hashing PII data provides several important benefits:
- Enhanced Privacy: Protects your users’ sensitive information from unauthorized access
- Regulatory Compliance: Helps meet requirements of privacy regulations like GDPR and CCPA
- Risk Reduction: Minimizes the impact of potential data breaches
- User Trust: Demonstrates your commitment to protecting customer data
While hashing provides an additional layer of security, it should be part of a comprehensive data protection strategy. Hashing is a one-way process - once enabled, the original data cannot be recovered.
Accessing Security Settings
Log into your Hardal Dashboard
Access your Hardal dashboard using your credentials
Navigate to Security Settings
Go to Settings → Security in the main navigation
Access Data Redaction Rules
Look for the “Data Redaction Rules” section which contains all PII hashing configuration options
Configuring Redaction Rules
Each redaction rule consists of three main components:
- Pattern Matching: Regular expressions that identify the data to be hashed
- Target Fields: The specific data fields where the pattern should be applied
- Hash Values: Configuration for how the data should be hashed
Enable Email Redaction
Toggle the switch to enable email address redaction
Review Pattern Matching
The default pattern ([a-zA-Z0-9._%+-]+@[a-zA-Z0-9.-]+\.[a-zA-Z]{2,}) captures email addresses. You can modify this if needed.
Customize Target Fields
By default, fields named “email” and “user_email” are targeted. Add any additional field names where email addresses might appear in your data.
Best Practices
Troubleshooting
Compliance Considerations
While Hardal’s data hashing features can help with privacy compliance, remember that:
Data hashing is just one aspect of privacy compliance. You should consult with legal experts to ensure your full data handling practices meet all applicable regulations.
- GDPR: Consider whether you need to hash data or fully anonymize it
- CCPA: Ensure your privacy policy accurately describes your data hashing practices
- Local Regulations: Some jurisdictions may have specific requirements for data protection