Turning on and configuring data masking (ADPP add-on)

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<p id="docs-hc-snippet" style="display: none;">As described inAbout data masking, customers with theAdvanced Data Privacy and Protection add-oncan hide personally identifiable information (PII) from agents in custom and light agent roles. The data masking feature allows you to mask end-user names, phone numbers, and email addresses.</p>
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<strong>Add-on</strong>
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<td>Advanced Data Privacy and Protection (ADPP)</td>
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<p id="docs-ai-summary-toggle">Summary: <span id="up-triangle">◀</span><span id="down-triangle">▼</span></p>
<p id="docs-ai-summary-content">You can use data masking to hide personally identifiable information like names, emails, and phone numbers from agents in custom or light roles. This helps protect sensitive data by restricting access based on roles. You can also update messaging ticket subjects to show user IDs instead of names. Be sure to review roles and permissions carefully before enabling or disabling data masking to maintain proper access control.</p>
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<p class="p">As described in <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/7713908123674" target="_blank">About data masking</a>, customers with the <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/6561144266906" target="_blank">Advanced Data Privacy and Protection add-on</a> can hide
personally identifiable information (PII) from agents in custom and light agent roles.
The data masking feature allows you to mask end-user names, phone numbers, and email
addresses.</p>
<div class="p">This article includes the following topics:<ul class="ul" id="zug_data_masking_turn_on__ul_dck_4mb_hdc">
<li class="li"><a class="xref" href="#topic_y1w_dxj_1fc">Considerations before turning on data masking</a></li>
<li class="li"><a class="xref" href="#topic_d4l_vdk_1fc">Turning on data masking</a></li>
<li class="li"><a class="xref" href="#topic_c1g_qnt_rfc">Removing end-user names from the subject line of messaging tickets</a></li>
<li class="li"><a class="xref" href="#topic_jy1_kpk_1fc">Turning off data masking</a></li>
</ul>
</div>
</div>
<div aria-labelledby="ariaid-title2" class="topic nested1" id="topic_y1w_dxj_1fc">
<h2 class="title topictitle2" id="ariaid-title2">Considerations before turning on data masking</h2>
<div class="body">
<div class="p">
<ul class="ul" id="topic_y1w_dxj_1fc__ul_g4t_qdk_1fc">
<li class="li">Define which roles require data masking. Configure masking permissions based
on the principle of least privilege, ensuring only those who truly need
access to PII can see it. You may want to create dedicated roles
specifically designed to restrict access to PII.</li>
<li class="li">Data masking can affect an agent’s ability to access and interact with
end-user information. Before turning on data masking for a custom or light
agent role, carefully evaluate the tasks and responsibilities of the agents
assigned to that role, and ensure agents are assigned to the correct roles
when toggling data masking on or off. </li>
<li class="li">Carefully select which fields and data types (names, email addresses, or
phone numbers) should be masked. Regularly review and update the list to
reflect any changes in data collection or business processes.</li>
<li class="li">Before rolling out changes, test in a <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/6150628316058" target="_blank">sandbox environment</a> to verify that
masking rules are working as intended across all relevant areas.</li>
<li class="li">
<p class="p" dir="ltr">Provide clear guidance or documentation so admins and agents
understand what is masked and why. </p>
</li>
</ul>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div aria-labelledby="ariaid-title3" class="topic nested1" id="topic_d4l_vdk_1fc">
<h2 class="title topictitle2" id="ariaid-title3">Turning on data masking</h2>
<div class="body">
<p class="p">Zendesk admins can turn on data masking for agents in custom roles. </p>
<p class="p"><strong class="ph b">To turn on data masking</strong></p>
<ol class="ol" id="topic_d4l_vdk_1fc__ol_gyf_ydk_1fc">
<li class="li"><span class="ph">In <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4581766374554#topic_hfg_dyz_1hb" target="_blank">Admin Center</a>, click <img class="image" id="topic_d4l_vdk_1fc__d8e637" src="https://zen-marketing-documentation.s3.amazonaws.com/docs/en/ac_people_icon.png">
<strong class="ph b">People</strong> in the sidebar, then select <strong class="ph b">Team &gt; Roles</strong>.</span></li>
<li class="li">On the role you want to turn data masking on for, click the options icon (<img class="image" id="topic_d4l_vdk_1fc__image_g1r_nsk_tcc" src="https://zen-marketing-documentation.s3.amazonaws.com/docs/en/sell_icon_menu_vertical.png" width="16">) and select <strong class="ph b">Edit</strong>.</li>
<li class="li">In the <strong class="ph b">Data masking</strong> section, select the <strong class="ph b">Mask</strong> checkbox for each
end-user field you want to mask for agents in this role.<br><img class="image img-screenshot" id="topic_d4l_vdk_1fc__image_mg1_j43_rlb" src="https://zen-marketing-documentation.s3.amazonaws.com/docs/en/data_masking_fields.png" width="500"><br>
</li>
<li class="li">Click <strong class="ph b">Save</strong>.<p class="p">An acknowledgment page appears with a link to more
information, notifying you that certain permission changes will take effect
after you click <strong class="ph b">Save</strong>. These changes are required to prevent agents in
this role from accessing the selected end-user fields, and include the
following:</p>
<ul class="ul" id="topic_d4l_vdk_1fc__ul_o2t_lkl_rfc">
<li class="li">
<a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4408836002970#topic_ygz_hkr_sjb" target="_blank">Explore permissions</a> will be
set to <strong class="ph b">No access</strong> for roles with data masking turned on to prevent
agents from accessing sensitive data in reports.</li>
<li class="li">Account assumption and deletion will be turned off for agents with
permission to manage end users.</li>
<li class="li">The subject line in the messaging ticket template may include end-user
names. To secure the PII there, set the messaging template subject line
to <strong class="ph b">Conversation with {end user ID}</strong>. See <a class="xref" href="#topic_c1g_qnt_rfc">Removing end-user names from the subject line of messaging tickets</a>.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li class="li">Click <strong class="ph b">Save</strong> on the acknowledgment page.</li>
<li class="li">Repeat these steps for any other roles you wish to turn on data masking
for.</li>
</ol>
</div>
</div>
<div aria-labelledby="ariaid-title4" class="topic nested1" id="topic_c1g_qnt_rfc">
<h2 class="title topictitle2" id="ariaid-title4">Removing end-user names from the subject line of messaging tickets</h2>
<div class="body">
<p class="p">By default, new messaging tickets include the end user's name in the subject line
(for example, "Conversation with Jane Smith"). If you turned on data masking to hide
end-user names, you may want to update the subject line to display the end-user ID
instead (for example, "Conversation with 5083543234201"). This option is available
when data masking is turned on for at least one role and applies to new tickets
only.</p>
<p class="p">You can change the subject line back to show the user name instead of the ID.
However, doing so only applies to new messaging tickets. The subject line on
existing tickets won't change.</p>
<p class="p">When you update the messaging subject line, it applies to all agents. The subject
line can't be updated for specific roles.</p>
<p class="p"><strong class="ph b">To remove end-user names from the subject line of messaging tickets</strong></p>
<ol class="ol" id="topic_c1g_qnt_rfc__ol_ibj_xnt_rfc">
<li class="li"><span class="ph">In <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4581766374554#topic_hfg_dyz_1hb" target="_blank">Admin Center</a>, click <img class="image" id="topic_c1g_qnt_rfc__d8e868" src="https://zen-marketing-documentation.s3.amazonaws.com/docs/en/ac_channels_icon.png">
<strong class="ph b">Channels</strong> in the sidebar, then select <strong class="ph b">Messaging and social &gt;
Messaging</strong>.</span></li>
<li class="li">Click <strong class="ph b">Manage settings</strong>.</li>
<li class="li">In the Tickets section, expand the <strong class="ph b">Ticket subject line when data is
masked</strong> option.</li>
<li class="li">Select <strong class="ph b">Conversation with {end user ID}</strong>.<div class="p">
<br><img class="image img-screenshot" src="https://zen-marketing-documentation.s3.amazonaws.com/docs/en/data_masking_messaging_subject.png" width="600"><br>
</div>
</li>
<li class="li">Click <strong class="ph b">Save settings</strong>.</li>
</ol>
</div>
</div>
<div aria-labelledby="ariaid-title5" class="topic nested1" id="topic_jy1_kpk_1fc">
<h2 class="title topictitle2" id="ariaid-title5">Turning off data masking</h2>
<div class="body">
<p class="p">After you turn off data masking for a custom or light agent role, team members
assigned to that role can view previously masked PII. In addition, permissions that
were previously locked to protect PII become editable again.</p>
<p class="p"><strong class="ph b">To turn off data masking</strong></p>
<ol class="ol" id="topic_jy1_kpk_1fc__ol_j4q_4pk_1fc">
<li class="li"><span class="ph">In <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4581766374554#topic_hfg_dyz_1hb" target="_blank">Admin Center</a>, click <img class="image" id="topic_jy1_kpk_1fc__d8e637" src="https://zen-marketing-documentation.s3.amazonaws.com/docs/en/ac_people_icon.png">
<strong class="ph b">People</strong> in the sidebar, then select <strong class="ph b">Team &gt; Roles</strong>.</span></li>
<li class="li">On the role you want to turn data masking off for, click the options icon
(<img class="image" id="topic_jy1_kpk_1fc__image_hgy_ppk_1fc" src="https://zen-marketing-documentation.s3.amazonaws.com/docs/en/sell_icon_menu_vertical.png" width="16">) and select <strong class="ph b">Edit</strong>.</li>
<li class="li">In the <strong class="ph b">Data masking</strong> section, deselect the <strong class="ph b">Mask</strong> checkbox for all
user fields.</li>
<li class="li">Click <strong class="ph b">Save</strong>.</li>
</ol>
</div>
</div>
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