In a SaaS & Gen AI first landscape, data security has become a paramount concern for businesses and individuals alike. As a leading SaaS provider, Zluri recognizes the immense responsibility of handling sensitive data, particularly Personally Identifiable Information (PII).
In this comprehensive blog post, we'll explore our multifaceted approach to sensitive data security and showcase the robust measures we've implemented to ensure the utmost protection of your PII.
What is PII Data?
PII, which stands for Personally Identifiable Information, refers to any data that can be used to identify, contact, or locate an individual, directly or indirectly. PIIs include:
Social Security number
Email address
Mailing address
Phone number
Date of birth
Biometric data (fingerprints, facial recognition data, etc.)
Financial account numbers (bank account, credit card number, etc.)
To understand PII data security in detail and dive into the intricacies of it, do access this whitepaper: PII Security and Privacy.
Why is There a Need to Secure PII Data in SaaS Management?
When PII data is not secured, any tool owner or admin can access sensitive information about employees, such as salaries, contact information, addresses, and digital identities. Zluri’s PII security aims to encrypt sensitive data end-to-end, allowing access only to authorized individuals.
This comes with a four-step process:
Minimization of data during ingestion
Identification and separation of sensitive data with encryption
Anonymization of sensitive data
Moving the anonymized data into a privacy vault and encrypting
This ensures that clients can access anonymized and encrypted sensitive data only with the help of a unique key. Zluri’s PII security is also GDPR compliant, making it secure on the regulatory front.
Here’s Why Zluri’s Privacy Vault is a Game Changer:
GDPR compliant
Near end-to-end encrypted
BYOK accessibility
Self-hosting capabilities
Dedicated data vault
Here’s How Zluri’s PII Security Works
![PII vault](https://images.ctfassets.net/eolgt3xbz2ko/1xJ8q9Gf556uOB3CXj12KF/24dd256e832368cc7fe326be9efd5161/Screenshot_2024-05-29_at_11.38.41_AM.png?w=1862&h=900&q=50&fm=png)
Step 1: Data Minimization - Collecting Only What’s Essential
Zluri only collects information that is absolutely necessary for delivering the right data points. This significantly reduces the risk of unnecessary data exposure. In addition, Zluri’s integrations are designed with customizable settings, empowering you to define the scope and depth of data shared. Selective data mapping ensures that only the most relevant information is exchanged between systems.
Step 2: Identification and Separation of Sensitive Data
Although Zluri minimizes the data during ingestion, there are still a few cases/applications where minimization isn’t feasible. This is where Zluri's platform is able to step in and isolate sensitive data before any possible exposure. The isolated data is encrypted and submitted for de-identification.
Step 3: Data Anonymization - De-Identification of Data
The platform employs techniques like tokenization, which replaces sensitive data with non-sensitive tokens, making the original PII undecipherable. A de-identification technique is used to anonymize PII while preserving the data’s core utility. It makes the data a bunch of 0s and 1s.
Step 4: Secured Privacy Vault Storage
Anonymized data is stored in a privacy vault, making it more secure than ever. Having a separate vault for the PII guarantees that privacy is handled with meticulous care and control, thereby raising overall data privacy and security.
Step 5: Near End-to-End Encryption
Zluri enables client-owned encryption keys, handing over complete control to the client. Our zero-knowledge architecture ensures that only authorized systems can decrypt data, and clients can change the keys anytime. These encryption and decryption keys are stored in a separate ecosystem from the data, ensuring another layer of separation and security against any possibility of a leak.
Step 6: You Control Your Data with BYOK
The best part of PII privacy is that access and control are 100% in the hands of the customer since only authorized individuals with the appropriate decryption keys can access your data. This concept is commonly known as BYOK and it is implemented through AWS-powered infrastructure
![BYOK](https://images.ctfassets.net/eolgt3xbz2ko/5maowy6Y3fasi2KkF1mpLN/99ff81e1d3a3b7e15a3efd9085caa71e/Screenshot_2024-05-29_at_11.37.24_AM.png?w=1592&h=688&q=50&fm=png)
Step 7: Flexible Data Residency Support
Our PII data privacy vault supports data residency by allowing customers to choose the geographic region where they store sensitive information. This ensures GDPR compliance along with regional data protection regulations and aligns with organizations' preferences and specific data residency requirements.
![Data residency](https://images.ctfassets.net/eolgt3xbz2ko/12VV71kBJW09vp7P11dExn/017720ce7695ab4c1ac6034b8d583156/Screenshot_2024-05-29_at_11.38.10_AM.png?w=1588&h=706&q=50&fm=png)
Critical Capabilities of Zluri’s PII Data Vault
Tokenization: PII stored in the data privacy vault undergoes tokenization, enhancing security by replacing sensitive information with non-sensitive tokens. This ensures that the original PII is never directly accessible within the vault.
De-Identification: Advanced de-identification techniques further anonymize PII, enhancing privacy by removing personally identifiable attributes while retaining data utility.
Encryption: Robust and industry-standard encryption algorithms safeguard PII within the vault. This encryption adds a layer of protection, ensuring the confidentiality of stored data.
Role-Based Access Controls: Access to the PII data privacy vault is governed by strict role-based access controls, which limit access to authorized personnel. This minimizes the risk of unauthorized data exposure or misuse.
Logging and Monitoring: Comprehensive logging and monitoring capabilities track access and modifications in the vault. Continuous monitoring allows prompt identification of any unusual or suspicious activity.
Regular Security Audits: Regular security audits, including vulnerability assessments and penetration testing, ensure the resilience of the PII data privacy vault against evolving threats.
We empower you to leverage technology confidently, knowing that your PII is safe. Contact us to fortify your PII security