Create anonymization techniques
task australia Updated Sep 10, 2026 3 min read dps-create-anonymization-techniques.md
Create a data privacy technique configuration to customize how data privacy anonymizes your data.
Before you begin
Role required: data_privacy_admin and admin
Procedure
-
Elevate to the data_privacy_admin role.
For details on role elevation, see Elevate to a privileged role.
-
Navigate to System Security > Data Privacy > Anonymization.
-
Select View techniques.
There are several pre-defined techniques available for selection.
|
Technique |
Description |
|---|---|
|
Selective Replace |
This technique does a selective replace of String data. All characters between the input's start and end indices are replaced with the character you choose. You can specify characters to exclude from masking:- start_index: Technique masks data starting at the specified character. If left blank, masking begins with the first character.
|
|
Static Replace |
This technique swaps values with static values. String, Number, and Date data can use this technique:- date_time_value: Replace Date values with this date. Use the yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm:ss format.
|
|
Random Replace |
This technique swaps values with randomly generated values. String and Number data can use this technique. |
|
Remove |
This technique removes values, replacing them with empty (null) values. |
|
No Action |
This technique is a placeholder. It does not modify fields when selected. |
|
Selective Replace with X |
Transforms String data and selectively replaces sensitive characters with the letter X.Note: Default technique for data patterns in Exploring Data Discovery (Classic). |
|
Data pattern anonymization |
Only anonymizes discovered data patterns within unstructured data fields while keeping underlying context intact. Note: Settings for this technique reference data pattern anonymization technique settings in Exploring Data Discovery (Classic). |
-
Fill in the fields in the Customize technique form.
Field1 Description Base technique Select a pre-defined technique, as custom techniques are based on the pre-defined techniques. Technique name Enter a name for the technique. Technique description Enter a description for the technique. -
Select Next.
-
Enter the technique parameters.
The available parameterized values depend on which privacy technique you have selected. There are no parameterized values for the No Action and Remove techniques.
Base Technique Privacy Technique Parameter value Description Default value Selective Replace end_index Technique masks data from the start of the string to the specified character. If left empty, masking ends with the last character. (Empty) Selective Replace exclude_char Character to skip masking. Only a single character can be used in this value. If more than one is entered, the first character is used. (Empty) Selective Replace replacement_char Character to use when replacing values using a selective replace. An asterisk (*) is used if no other value is entered. Selective Replace start_index Technique masks data starting at the specified character. If left blank, masking starts at the first character. Static Replace date_time_value Replace date and time values with this date. Use the yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm:ss format. 1988-11-11 10:10:10 Static Replace date_value Replace date values with this date. Use the yyyy-MM-dd format. 1988-11-11 Static Replace number_value Replace Number values with this number. 1234567 Static Replace string_value Replace String values with this text. TEXT123 Random Replace preserve_data_length Set to true to preserve data length. De-identified data will have the same length as the original data. True -
Select Create Custom Technique.
Your custom technique is added to the Anonymization techniques.
What to do next
See Create anonymization policies to configure an anonymization policy to specify which techniques are used when anonymizing your data.
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---
title: Create anonymization techniques
description: Create a data privacy technique configuration to customize how data privacy anonymizes your data.
locale: en-US
canonical_url: https://www.servicenow.com/docs/r/australia/platform-security/data-privacy-classic/dps-create-anonymization-techniques.html
release: australia
product: Data Privacy \(Classic\)
classification: data-privacy-classic
topic_type: task
last_updated: "2026-09-10"
reading_time_minutes: 3
breadcrumb: [Data anonymization, Data privacy, Data Privacy, Platform Privacy]
---
# Create anonymization techniques
Create a data privacy technique configuration to customize how data privacy anonymizes your data.
## Before you begin
Role required: data\_privacy\_admin and admin
## Procedure
1. Elevate to the **data\_privacy\_admin** role.
For details on role elevation, see [Elevate to a privileged role](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ServiceNow/ServiceNowDocs/australia/markdown/australia/platform-security/t_ElevateToAPrivilegedRole.md).
2. Navigate to **System Security** > **Data Privacy** > **Anonymization**.
3. Select **View techniques**.
There are several pre-defined techniques available for selection.
<table><thead><tr><th>
Technique
</th><th>
Description
</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>
Selective Replace
</td><td>
This technique does a selective replace of String data. All characters between the input's start and end indices are replaced with the character you choose. You can specify characters to exclude from masking:- start\_index: Technique masks data starting at the specified character. If left blank, masking begins with the first character.
- end\_index: Technique masks data from the start of the string to the specified character. If left blank, masking ends with the last character.
- exclude\_char: Define a character to exclude from masking.
- replacement\_char: Define a character used for masking. If none is provided, asterisks\(\*\) are used by default.
</td></tr><tr><td>
Static Replace
</td><td>
This technique swaps values with static values. String, Number, and Date data can use this technique:- date\_time\_value: Replace Date values with this date. Use the yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm:ss format.
- date\_value: Replace Date values with this date. Use the yyyy-MM-dd format.
- number\_value: Replace Number values with this number.
- string\_value: Replace String values with this text.
- number\_type: Accepts an integer number
</td></tr><tr><td>
Random Replace
</td><td>
This technique swaps values with randomly generated values. String and Number data can use this technique.
</td></tr><tr><td>
Remove
</td><td>
This technique removes values, replacing them with empty \(null\) values.
</td></tr><tr><td>
No Action
</td><td>
This technique is a placeholder. It does not modify fields when selected.
</td></tr><tr><td>
Selective Replace with X
</td><td>
Transforms String data and selectively replaces sensitive characters with the letter X.**Note:** Default technique for data patterns in [Exploring Data Discovery \(Classic\)](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ServiceNow/ServiceNowDocs/australia/markdown/australia/platform-security/data-discovery/data-discovery.md).
</td></tr><tr><td>
Data pattern anonymization
</td><td>
Only anonymizes discovered data patterns within unstructured data fields while keeping underlying context intact. **Note:** Settings for this technique reference data pattern anonymization technique settings in [Exploring Data Discovery \(Classic\)](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ServiceNow/ServiceNowDocs/australia/markdown/australia/platform-security/data-discovery/data-discovery.md).
</td></tr></tbody>
</table>4. Select **Add custom technique**, if not using a pre-defined technique.
5. Fill in the fields in the **Customize technique** form.
|Field1|Description|
|------|-----------|
|Base technique|Select a pre-defined technique, as custom techniques are based on the pre-defined techniques.|
|Technique name|Enter a name for the technique.|
|Technique description|Enter a description for the technique.|
6. Select **Next**.
7. Enter the technique parameters.
The available parameterized values depend on which privacy technique you have selected. There are no parameterized values for the **No Action** and **Remove** techniques.
|Base Technique|Privacy Technique Parameter value|Description|Default value|
|--------------|---------------------------------|-----------|-------------|
| | | | |
|Selective Replace|end\_index|Technique masks data from the start of the string to the specified character. If left empty, masking ends with the last character.|\(Empty\)|
|Selective Replace|exclude\_char|Character to skip masking. Only a single character can be used in this value. If more than one is entered, the first character is used.|\(Empty\)|
|Selective Replace|replacement\_char|Character to use when replacing values using a selective replace.|An asterisk \(**\***\) is used if no other value is entered.|
|Selective Replace|start\_index|Technique masks data starting at the specified character.|If left blank, masking starts at the first character.|
|Static Replace|date\_time\_value|Replace date and time values with this date. Use the yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm:ss format.|1988-11-11 10:10:10|
|Static Replace|date\_value|Replace date values with this date. Use the yyyy-MM-dd format.|1988-11-11|
|Static Replace|number\_value|Replace Number values with this number.|1234567|
|Static Replace|string\_value|Replace String values with this text.|TEXT123|
|Random Replace|preserve\_data\_length|Set to **true** to preserve data length. De-identified data will have the same length as the original data.|True|
8. Select **Create Custom Technique**.
Your custom technique is added to the Anonymization techniques.
## What to do next
See [Create anonymization policies](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ServiceNow/ServiceNowDocs/australia/markdown/australia/platform-security/data-privacy-classic/dps-create-anonymization-policies.md) to configure an anonymization policy to specify which techniques are used when anonymizing your data.
| title | Create anonymization techniques |
| description | Create a data privacy technique configuration to customize how data privacy anonymizes your data. |
| locale | en-US |
| canonical_url | https://www.servicenow.com/docs/r/australia/platform-security/data-privacy-classic/dps-create-anonymization-techniques.html |
| release | australia |
| product | Data Privacy \(Classic\) |
| classification | data-privacy-classic |
| topic_type | task |
| last_updated | 2026-09-10 |
| reading_time_minutes | 3 |
| breadcrumb | Data anonymizationData privacyData PrivacyPlatform Privacy |