De-identification method where generic placeholders are substituted for real data while preserving structure.

De-identification method where generic placeholders are substituted for real data while preserving structure.

• A. Data masking
• B. Tokenization
• C. Password best practices
• D. Account policies

Answer: (A)

The concept being tested is de-identification by replacing real values with placeholders while keeping the data format intact. This is data masking. It hides sensitive information by substituting non-sensitive, realistic-looking values that preserve the structure and constraints of the original data, so applications can continue to process and validate data correctly. For example, a credit card number might be shown as 4111-XXXX-XXXX-1111 or as **** **** **** 1111, keeping the same length and separators. A social security number could appear as XXX-XX-6789, preserving the overall format while removing actual digits. This approach balances usability with confidentiality, making it suitable for non-production environments and analytics without exposing real data.

The concept being tested is de-identification by replacing real values with placeholders while keeping the data format intact. This is data masking. It hides sensitive information by substituting non-sensitive, realistic-looking values that preserve the structure and constraints of the original data, so applications can continue to process and validate data correctly. For example, a credit card number might be shown as 4111-XXXX-XXXX-1111 or as **** **** **** 1111, keeping the same length and separators. A social security number could appear as XXX-XX-6789, preserving the overall format while removing actual digits. This approach balances usability with confidentiality, making it suitable for non-production environments and analytics without exposing real data.