Redacting Card and Social Security Numbers (SSN)

In this guide we will cover:

• Redacting Card Numbers
• Redacting Social Security Numbers
• Context Aware Redaction Rules

Card numbers and Social Security Numbers (SSN) can be redacted from new tickets or actions, either partially or wholly. 

Redacting Card Numbers#

In Configuration > Users > General Settings > Data Compliance Settings, a dropdown will show to select whether card numbers are redacted from tickets.

Fig 1. Redact card numbers.

In this example, the card number is redacted, except for the last 4 digits being shown. 

Fig 2. Partially redacted card number.

The Luhn's Check Algorithm is used to determine if something is a card number or not, as specified in Annex B of ISO/IEC 7812-1, and numbers between 13 and 19 digits will be tested. This method cannot guarantee that all card numbers will be redacted, or that some non-card numbers would not be.

Exclusions have been made for numbers which start with a + (i.e. phone numbers), and numbers that are part of URLs.

Redacting Social Security Numbers#

In Configuration > Users > General Settings > Data Compliance Settings, a dropdown will show to select whether Social Security Numbers are redacted from tickets.

Fig 3. Redacting SSNs.

The redaction will apply in both forms will dashes between and without, as shown below.

Fig 4. Redacted SSNs.

Context Aware Redaction Rules#

There is an additional option to enable context aware redaction rules, and dictate their character strength. In this example, 5 characters either side of the number will be checked. Using this method may mean some card numbers or Social Security Numbers are not redacted.

Fig 5. Context strength configuration.

This means the same number will still show if part of an email.

Fig 6. Unredacted email.

Or part of a URL.

Fig 7. Unredacted URL.