Insights from our PM Roundtable: Data Masking

Dear Zendesk Customers,

Thank you to everyone who joined us for our recent PM Roundtable on Data Masking. We appreciated the chance to engage with you and share insights about this functionality and its Sandbox Early Access Program (EAP). Your feedback is invaluable, and we’re excited to incorporate your input into our upcoming developments.

Event Recording

From our discussions, we identified several key themes regarding your concerns and questions

Data Management and Restrictions:

You expressed significant interest in effectively managing sensitive data, particularly Personally Identifiable Information (PII) and Protected Health Information (PHI). There is a strong desire for clarity on how Zendesk defines these terms and the level of customization available to meet specific data protection needs. Many of you specifically asked, “How flexible is it to define what is PHI? If it is predefined by Zendesk, then it may not work.

API and Integration Capabilities:

We heard from you the want to ensure that adopting the new feature will not disrupt existing API integrations. The Data Masking solution focuses on hiding data from unauthorized agents rather than removing any data, so it will not affect the data available in the customer database.

Data Masking by Region:

During our roundtable one of our community members use case was mentioned regarding the need to allow more employees to access Zendesk. However, some employees are located in other countries, which currently prevents the company from granting them access. Configuring roles for specific countries with data masking applied could help address this issue. Additionally, utilizing the Department Spaces feature may provide an alternative solution.

In Conclusion

The key takeaway from our discussions is the community's desire for Data Masking to have broader coverage in the future. Specifically, to encompass Protected Health Information (PHI), Custom User Fields, and Personally Identifiable Information (PII) unique to your business. This expansion would enhance data security and ensure compliance with regulations, ultimately providing greater protection for sensitive information. By considering these additional elements, we can better meet your organization's needs and safeguard the privacy of your clients and employees.

Thank you once again for your participation and valuable feedback. We are eager to move forward on this journey together and look forward to continuing our collaboration with all of you! We encourage you to participate in the Data Masking Sandbox EAP to learn more about the feature.

The Zendesk Product & Community Teams