Data Masking and Redaction: Key Differences, Application & Best Practices

Data masking and redaction play a significant role in document security by providing organizations with the ability to share sensitive information and decide what, and how much, information a given party is privy to.

According to the 2024 Data Breach Investigations Report, 68 percent of breaches had a human element, including errors and social engineering attacks. This statistic shows that sensitive information in the wrong hands can cause big problems. To mitigate this risk, data masking and redaction have become essential security measures.

There may be instances where you need to share documents, say, for legal or training purposes. Using data masking or redaction tools, you can still share the documents without compromising sensitive data. Both these techniques essentially safeguard sensitive or private data, but their methods differ, and as a result, their use cases differ.

MST is a document viewing and conversion suite with built in document security capabilities, including built-in data redaction and masking functionality. It allows you to easily share documents with users inside or outside the organization without compromising privacy or risking non-compliance.

In the article below, we take a look at data masking and redaction, understanding the differences and applications between the two. We’ll explore use cases, best practices, solutions and more.

What Is Data Masking?

Data masking is a technique for disguising original, typically sensitive data. Also called data anonymization, this technique hides original data by replacing it with arbitrary data. The data structurally remains the same, but actual values are replaced with similar, random ones.

Let’s say a document contains a list of employees and personally identifiable information (PII) like social security numbers. With data masking, the real social security numbers will be replaced with fictitious ones, for example, 233-65-1020 may be replaced with 123-45-6789.

This often comes in handy for training or testing purposes where you need some placeholder for sensitive data. The data remains useful but not identifiable.

What Is Data Redaction?

Data redaction permanently removes sensitive information from a document, file, or database. Think of it as using a black marker to hide the text. With data redaction, the sensitive data may be blacked out or replaced with blank spaces.

This technique ensures that sensitive data isn’t accessible by any unauthorized user, even if they’re accessing the document or media file. Also, the redacted data can’t be recovered from that specific file. As a result, data redaction provides a secure way to share documents or files with people and systems inside or outside the organization.

It’s often used in publicly shared documents containing Personal Identifiable Information (PII). For example, you may redact account numbers or personal details from bank statements when presenting them in public court hearings.

Data Masking vs. Data Redaction: What’s the Difference?

On the surface, data masking and redaction may seem similar as they protect sensitive information. However, there are differences in their implementation that also translate into differences in the technology and use cases.

The main difference between data masking and data redaction is that the former replaces the actual information with random or generic values, whereas the latter removes it altogether. In the case of data masking, the information is still useful, for instance, for training users or testing software.

Data redaction is a permanent solution, typically used when sharing documents with external parties. To maintain access to the original information, companies often create separate, redacted copies for sharing, ensuring sensitive data remains protected.

On the other hand, data masking is reversible, so data can be shared while maintaining anonymity and revert back to original values when needed. So, comparatively, redaction is more secure as users can’t decode the data.

The technological implementation of the two data protection techniques also differs. An algorithm may work to identify and replace sensitive data fields for masking. It may shuffle or swap the value (for example, for numeric data like phone numbers, account numbers, or SSNs). It can also use generic values in place of actual data. Encryption is also frequently used in data masking to change real values, which is a key element of securing banking documents.

Data redaction involves editing capabilities, such as overwriting text with black or white boxes. It may also involve permanently deleting a specific file section, such as an image or video.
MST’s data redaction solution uses AI-based smart redaction that redacts PII automatically and also integrates with a wider document management system.

When Are Data Masking and Data Redaction Used Security Measures Used?

Data masking and redaction use cases also vary due to how they hide sensitive information. Let’s explore some common applications of each:

Data Masking Uses

• Development and Testing: Data masking is frequently used in non-production environments for secure development and testing. Developers must work with real-life data to ensure the software works as it should, while the security and privacy of the data must be prioritized. Data masking allows the use of real-life data sets by replacing sensitive values with fictitious ones. For example, developers working on a telehealth app can use real patient data sets with PII data masked to comply with regulations.
• Training and Education: Data masking can also be used while training employees. Actual documents with sensitive data obfuscated can help employees understand real-world scenarios. For instance, customer service representatives can be trained with customer data where financial information like credit card numbers are masked.
• Data Analysis and Reporting: Masked data can also protect identity or other sensitive information in data used in research or analysis. While all the relevant information remains intact, any PII may be changed for protection and compliance. For example, researchers in a scientific study may not know the names of the participants as they have been replaced with generic identifiers like ‘Patient A’ to protect their identities or prevent bias.
• External Collaboration: Businesses that need to share their data or documents with external parties use data masking to hide PII, financial information, or intellectual property. This way, data can be shared without compromising sensitive information. For example, a retailer wants to share sales data with a marketing agency to study customer behavior and buying trends. They can share the data but mask customers’ private information, such as name, contact number, or credit card number.

Data Redaction Uses

• Sharing Sensitive Documents: Whether you need to share sensitive documents internally or externally, redaction ensures that only non-sensitive data is visible and usable. For instance, a company can share its financial documents with a third party, like an investor, and redact data such as executive salaries or profit margins. The document would still convey the company’s overall financial situation without spilling sensitive details.
• Compliance with Data Privacy Laws: Data privacy regulations such as HIPAA, CCPA, and GDPR require companies to protect consumers’ personal information. Redaction of those records in public documents or those shared with third parties ensures compliance and avoids legal consequences.
• Legal and Regulatory Submissions: In scenarios where documents must be submitted for legal or regulatory compliance purposes, redaction can help hide confidential information. For example, a legal firm can redact PII when submitting documents for discovery. They can present the evidence documents, like witness statements, to the opposing counsel without disclosing the witness’s identity.

Importance of Data Masking and Redaction

The average data breach cost reached a jaw-dropping $9.48 million in 2023. Leaking confidential data to the public can have disastrously expensive consequences, not to mention reputational damage.

Technologies like data masking and redaction are instrumental to information security. Here’s why:

• Protecting Sensitive Information: When sharing data with others, data masking or redaction techniques can protect sensitive information such as PII, financial reports, trade secrets, and intellectual property. Data masking solutions are integral for government agencies, legal firms, financial institutions, and law enforcement agencies that deal with sensitive data daily.
• Ensuring Compliance: It may be necessary to hide PII to comply with data privacy regulations, which are becoming increasingly stringent worldwide. Many states in the US, including California, Colorado, Utah, and Virginia, have their own data and privacy protection laws. Non-compliance can result in hefty fines and/or legal prosecution.
• Maintaining Trust and Integrity: Protecting sensitive information through masking or redaction also ensures the trust of clients and business partners. They can be assured that any sensitive information related to them won’t go public or end up in the wrong hands. Any leaks of information can result in loss of contracts and discourage potential clients.

Best Ways to Implement Data Masking and Redaction in Existing IT Infrastructure

Companies, big or small, deal with unprecedented amounts of data. To optimize the use of information security technologies like data redaction and masking, you need a viable strategy and follow the best practices.

• Assessing Data Sensitivity: Not all documents or datasets may contain sensitive information. It’s best to first assess what qualifies as sensitive or confidential data. Then, identify departments or people who have access to this sensitive information. This will help you know exactly where to implement masking and redaction solutions.
• Choosing the Right Tools: Pick a data masking/redaction solution that best supports your organization’s operations. When looking for a tool, consider security features such as document encryption, access control, and audit trails. Also, pay attention to technical capabilities, such as automated redaction and compatibility with different file types. It should also be cost-effective. MST’s data redaction tool offers all the features along with dedicated customer support.
• Integration with Existing Systems: Ideally, the data redaction solution should integrate with your existing systems, such as enterprise resource management, customer relationship management, or sales management software. MST’s solution integrates with many systems, including IBM CM8, Salesforce, and SharePoint.
• Training and Awareness: Provide adequate training to employees working with sensitive documents about the importance of data privacy and how to utilize data masking or redaction tools to safeguard sensitive information. Also, increase awareness about information security organization-wide through courses and workshops.
• Regular Audits and Updates: Conduct audits periodically to assess the state of information security and how data redaction tools are being used. Adapt to evolving threats by changing security policy and implementing new security technologies.

Compliance and Legal Considerations

Many organizations may be required by law to adopt data redaction or masking. This is typically the case with companies in specific sectors, such as healthcare. However, some regulations may require any and all companies to take necessary data privacy protection measures.

Such regulations are in place to ensure user data isn’t manipulated or stolen because of a company’s negligence. They extend the right to privacy to the digital world, where individuals may share PII such as name or address or financial information like credit card or bank account numbers.

For example, HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) regulates the use and sharing of protected health information. Healthcare and insurance companies in the US have to comply with HIPAA and protect patient information. As a result, data masking or redaction techniques become necessary for healthcare companies when sharing or disclosing documents with information about patients.

It’s important to assess which regulations apply to your company based on your industry or the jurisdiction where you operate. Understand the requirements and opt for security solutions that comply with those regulations.

How MST Can Help

MST offers an easy-to-use, time-saving redaction tool that hides sensitive information using the latest redaction technologies. It can automatically redact sensitive fields with PII before rendering the document for its intended user. All the while, the original document isn’t altered, ensuring its integrity. It works with many file formats, such as Word, PDF, TIFF, and JPG.

The redaction tool is built into eViewer HTML 5 software, MST’s flagship offering. It’s a comprehensive document viewer and conversion solution that provides secure redaction, access control, end-to-end encryption, format conversion, watermarking, annotations, and digital signatures.

eViewer is used across a range of enterprises and integrates seamlessly with existing document management systems.

Roche, a prominent name in the healthcare and pharmaceutical industry, is renowned for its cutting-edge strategies to enhance patient care. With operations in more than 100 countries, Roche navigates the intricate task of managing marketing campaigns across its diverse, international teams. To tackle this challenge, Roche has adopted the eViewer v5 document viewer that has helped to streamline collaboration and optimize their global campaign workflows.

Another case study involves WorldPay, a globally recognized leader in payment processing solutions, operating within a complex network of vendors and partners.

Handling payment processing disputes can be a daunting task. To simplify and speed up the resolution process, WorldPay adopted the eViewer 5, an advanced document viewing solution. This implementation greatly enhanced WorldPay’s efficiency in resolving disputes, optimizing processes, and strengthening relationships with vendors. The introduction of eViewer has truly transformed how WorldPay manages transaction dispute challenges.

To find out how MST can meet your organization’s document management needs, get in touch today.

Conclusion

Data masking and redaction are useful technologies for balancing data security and functionality. While masking uses data manipulation to hide sensitive entries, redaction removes the sensitive data altogether.

The choice between the two techniques ultimately depends on the specific use case and organizational needs. Organizations often use both in tandem to protect confidential data and comply with data privacy regulations.

MST eViewer provides data masking capabilities, document manipulation tools, and automatic redaction. It’s a one-stop solution for document viewing and conversion needs, suitable for any business, operating in any industry.

To find out more, contact MST today!