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Antvia Data · Episode 7 of 8

Protecting sensitive data

Antvia Data separates three things that decide what a person sees: a role says what they may do, a group says which rows they may see, and a policy says which columns are masked. This episode reads the policy register and what each policy masks, the groups that hold exemptions and the one whose reason expired in 2024, the roles that can read masked columns, and the columns that still have nothing protecting them. It ends by switching on the dormant redaction policy and watching the column register and the home page change.

7:358 chapters867 wordsSilent, with captions

Also on YouTube, with the rest of the Antvia Data series. The whole episode is written out below, with the timing, if you would rather read it.

Chapters

What happens, in order.

0:00
Introduction
Title card.
0:07
Three separate questions
How roles, groups and policies differ, the policy register and its summary, and the warning about the policy that is switched off.
1:05
What each policy masks
The customer contact policy and its masking, the trade terms policy over four finance columns, the engineer pseudonym, and the redaction policy that was never switched on.
2:21
Exemptions that outlive their reason
The groups tab: row scopes, the service partner exemption granted for a 2024 migration, the finance exemption and its reason, and who is in each group.
3:52
Who can read in the clear
The roles tab: capability counts, the two roles that can read masked columns, and the matrix that makes roles comparable.
4:59
Still unprotected
The column register seen from the policy side: the distributor owner contacts and credit limits with no policy, and the comments covered only by a switched-off rule.
5:52
Switch it on
Switching on the redaction policy live, the warning clearing, comment_text becoming protected in the column register, the home page count falling, and the change in the audit trail.
7:12
Close
Closing card.
Transcript

The whole episode, in words.

The videos are silent, with the captions burned in. This is the same text, with the timing, so you can find the part you need without scrubbing for it.

Introduction

0:00
Antvia Data. Protecting sensitive data. Masking policies, the exemptions that outlive their reason, and a rule that was written and never switched on.

Three separate questions

0:07
Three separate questions. What you may do, which rows you see, which columns are masked.
0:12
PoliciesPolicies are the masking rules at Acme Home Appliances, a demo company. This page is the authority: the column register reads it rather than keeping its own copy.
0:24
Three questionsAccess is split on purpose. A role says what somebody may do. A group says which rows they see. A policy says which columns are masked, whatever the other two say.
0:37
Switched offOne policy is written and switched off. It names a column and protects nothing, which is worse than no policy, because anyone checking finds a rule and stops looking.
0:50
In forceThree policies are in force, covering six columns.
0:54
ExemptionsThree have a group that reads through them.
0:59
SeverityAnd three of the four are rated high severity.

What each policy masks

1:05
What each policy masks. Four rules, opened one at a time.
1:10
Customer contactMask customer contact details covers customer mobile numbers in the feedback table. Anyone without an exemption sees the first two and last three digits.
1:20
One exemptionOne group reads through it: the authorised service partners. We will come back to why.
1:31
Trade termsRestrict trade terms hides discounts, margin, amounts due and the cash discount rate from everyone but Finance and leadership. These are the numbers one distributor could use against another.
1:44
Hidden entirelyIts masking is total: the columns are not shown at all.
1:54
A pseudonymThe engineer who filed a warranty claim is replaced by a stable pseudonym outside Service, so rejection rates cannot be read as one person's performance, and trends still work.
2:10
Never switched onRedact free-text comments was written in May for customer comments, which routinely contain names, addresses and phone numbers. It was never switched on.

Exemptions that outlive their reason

2:21
Exemptions that outlive their reason. Groups decide rows, and hold the exemptions.
2:27
Outlived its reasonOne exemption has outlived the reason it was granted for.
2:33
Service partnersThe 36 authorised service partners were exempted from customer contact masking in February 2024, for the move to a new partner app. The move finished that June.
2:45
Still readingSo for two years, people outside the company have read customer phone numbers in the clear, for a reason that no longer applies. This is what an access review is for, and what one almost never finds.
3:01
RowsGroups also decide rows. Four groups see only their own region, partner or plant.
3:09
Own region onlyRegional sales sees rows where the region matches the person's own. An area manager in Coimbatore never sees the West.
3:19
A reason that holdsService ops is exempt from the engineer pseudonym, and the reason still holds: a manager needs the engineer's name on a claim to run a one-to-one.
3:31
A good reasonFinance holds an exemption from the trade terms policy, with a reason that still holds: these are the numbers the team exists to close the books on.
3:43
A reason on recordEvery exemption carries its reason. One with no reason recorded is one nobody will ever feel able to remove.

Who can read in the clear

3:52
Who can read in the clear. Roles, counted against everything there is to do.
3:58
RolesRoles say what somebody may do, as a count against everything there is to do in Antvia Data.
4:06
The roles to watchTwo roles can read masked columns in the clear: the org admin and the data steward.
4:15
In redIn the matrix it is the one capability drawn in red. A grid of green ticks teaches the eye to skip the grid.
4:26
ComparableAdmin and Analyst mean nothing beside each other. A full count against a small one does: the org admin holds all of them, the data consumer a handful.
4:40
The role to watchThe data steward can certify tables and read masked columns. One person holds it, and that combination is why it is the role to watch.
4:52
Changing thisAnd only the org admin can change access, which means changing this page.

Still unprotected

4:59
Still unprotected. The columns no rule covers.
5:08
Five columnsBack in the column register, five personal or sensitive columns have nothing in force covering them.
5:16
No policy at allDistributor owners' email and mobile numbers have no policy. The customer contact rule covers customers, and nobody extended it.
5:24
Sensitive, uncoveredDistributor credit limits are sensitive, and the trade terms rule names four finance columns but not this one.
5:33
New and uncoveredAnd a column that appeared on 3 August: appliance serial numbers, personal once joined to an installation, and covered by nothing.
5:43
Covered by a rule that is offCustomer comments are the other kind: a rule covers them, and it is switched off.

Switch it on

5:52
Switch it on. One change, and every surface that reads the rule follows.
6:05
Switch it onThe policy has been reviewed with the customer insights team. Switch it on.
6:15
Nothing switched offThe warning has gone, and no policy is written and switched off.
6:23
In forceRedact free-text comments is in force. Comments show as redacted for everyone without an exemption.
6:36
Four leftThe column register reads the same rule. Four unprotected columns now, not five.
6:44
ProtectedCustomer comments show the redaction policy as their protection.
6:52
Home followsThe home page counts four unprotected columns, and the switched-off policy has left the list of what needs somebody.
7:04
On the recordAnd the audit trail records who switched it on, and how many columns it now protects.

Close

7:12
Sensitive columns, protected on purpose. Roles, row scopes and column masking kept separate. Every exemption carries its reason, and stale ones are flagged. Rules that exist and do nothing, called out. One change, reflected everywhere the rule is read.
Antvia Data

The rest of the series.

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