Google Sheets

Replace Sensitive Data With Fake Data (aka Pseudonyms) - Google Sheets DLP (Data Loss Prevention)

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TL;DR: Strac - A Comprehensive Solution for Pseudonymization

Strac Google Sheets Pseudonymization replaces sensitive customer data with format-preserving pseudonyms for productivity, compliance, and security reasons.
It is a DLP software that creates a copy of the original Google Sheets with anonymized data elements.
It allows developers and business analysts to test and analyze data without seeing sensitive information. Users can learn how to pseudonymize data in Excel by configuring a list of sensitive data elements to anonymize with Strac.Users can configure a list of sensitive data elements to anonymize, including financial, tracking, and identification data.
Strac pseudonymizes (aka removes) PII, PCI or PHI from CSV files, Google Sheets, or Microsoft Excel files.
See our video demo below to learn about how Strac Google Sheets DLP and how masking/pseudonymization works

Identifying the Problem: Why Pseudonymization is Important for Data Privacy

Businesses want to run tests and statistical analysis on existing Google Sheets containing sensitive customer data. That sensitive data needs to be replaced with fake data (aka format-preserving pseudonyms) for the following reasons:

Productivity: Manually generating pseudonyms is time consuming work and is prone to typos or semantic errors that make the generated data unusable.
‍Compliance: GDPR, HIPAA, CCPA and many other privacy laws enforce all customer sensitive data to be accessed on a need-to-know basis. Removing data access for testing and analytic workload reduces compliance risk.
Security: Sharing updated sheets allow recipients to still access sensitive customer data because Google Sheets maintain a version history that tracks all changes. Also, insider attacks are common where employees who have access to customer's sensitive data lead to data exfiltration.

The Solution: Step-by-Step Guide on Pseudonymizing Data in Excel or Google Sheets or CSV with Strac

Strac Google Sheets Pseudonymization is a Data Loss Prevention (DLP) software. It creates a copy of the original Google Sheets with sensitive data elements replaced using format-preserving pseudonyms. For developers building applications backed by Google Sheets data, it allows them to test their code using data that look the same as production. For business analysts, it allows them to perform statistic analysis on models that have the same properties as production data. All without seeing the sensitive data. Learn how to pseudonymize data in Excel and remove sensitive data from CSV files, Google Sheets, or Microsoft Sheets. This process is particularly useful for business analysts who want to perform statistical analysis on models that have the same properties as production data without compromising sensitive information. It essentially removes PII or PHI or any sensitive data from CSV file, Google Sheets or even Microsoft Sheets.

Users can configure a list of sensitive data elements to pseudonymize. Below is a sample list of data elements that can be converted to pseudonyms:

BANK_ACCOUNT_NUMBER
BANK_ROUTING_NUMBER
BANK_PIN
BANK_IDENTIFIER_CODE
BITCOIN_ADDRESS
CITY
CREDIT_CARD_NUMBER
CREDIT_CARD_CVV
CREDIT_CARD_ISSUER
DATE
EMAIL
ETHEREUM_ADDRESS
FINANCIAL_ACCOUNT_NAME
FINANCIAL_ACCOUNT
GENDER
INTERNATIONAL_BANK_ACCOUNT_NUMBER
IP_ADDRESS
JOB_TITLE
MAC_ADDRESS
NAME
NUMBER
PASSWORD
PHONE_NUMBER
ROUTING_NUMBER
SALARY
STATE
STREET_ADDRESS
SOCIAL_SECURITY_NUMBER
USER_NAME
VEHICLE_IDENTIFICATION_NUMBER
ZIP_CODE

Sharepoint DLP Use Cases

Practical Scenario

A hospital’s billing and administrative teams use SharePoint Online to store patient invoices, medical reports, and insurance forms. While collaborating with external insurance providers, a staff member accidentally updates the permissions on a SharePoint document library to “Anyone with the link,” exposing potentially thousands of patient files containing PHI.

How Strac's Sharepoint DLP Helps

Continuous Data Discovery: Strac automatically scans existing and newly uploaded documents, identifying PHI (e.g., medical record numbers, Social Security Numbers).
Classification & Labeling: Once identified, files are labeled (e.g., “HIPAA Sensitive”), ensuring that administrators know which documents require the highest level of protection.
Visibility into Access: Strac provides real-time insight into who has access to these sensitive documents. Administrators can instantly see if unauthorized users or broad groups have viewing rights.
Revoke Public Links: If a file is publicly accessible, Strac immediately revokes those links and restores restricted access.
Alerts & Quarantines: When someone attempts to share PHI externally, Strac can alert admins, quarantine the file for review, or completely block the action.
Audit-Ready Reports: All actions are logged, enabling quick incident response and demonstrating HIPAA compliance for audits.

Practical Scenario

A mid-sized investment firm uses SharePoint to collaborate on various client files, including:

Credit card statements (subject to PCI-DSS)
ID documents (Driver’s Licenses, Passports, etc.) used for KYC (Know Your Customer) verification
Banking information such as account and routing numbers

An associate accidentally shares a SharePoint folder containing these files with a newly onboarded client who does not require access to all confidential documents. This folder is also accessible to several internal teams outside the immediate project, creating multiple potential exposure points.

How Strac's Sharepoint DLP Helps

Comprehensive Data Discovery: Strac scans both existing and newly uploaded documents in SharePoint for sensitive information such as credit card numbers, bank account details, and ID documents (Driver’s License, Passport formats).
Classification & Automated Labeling: Once identified, Strac applies meaningful labels (e.g., “PCI-DSS Sensitive,” “PII – ID Documents,” “Banking Info”) to ensure these files stand out and are subject to stricter security rules.
Visibility into Access: Strac provides an immediate view of who currently has access to these sensitive files. This allows admins to spot situations where external clients or internal teams unnecessarily have permissions.
Public Access Revocation: If a labeled document (e.g., containing card data or ID scans) is found to be publicly shared or too broadly accessible, Strac automatically revokes these links or permissions, aligning access with the principle of least privilege.
Alerts, Quarantines, and Blocks: When a user attempts to share a labeled document with outside domains—or with an entire department—Strac alerts administrators or quarantines/blocks the file share, depending on policy settings.
In cases where the share is intentional but needs review, admins can approve or deny the request within Strac’s dashboard.
Audit & Compliance: Every sharing event, label assignment, and access revocation is logged, creating a detailed audit trail. This helps demonstrate compliance with PCI-DSS, KYC, AML, and other regulatory requirements.
Automatic reporting simplifies any regulatory or internal compliance audit, reducing the administrative burden on security and compliance teams.

Practical Scenario

A software company keeps source code, product roadmaps, and design specs in SharePoint. Several teams—including external contractors—use the same SharePoint site. A developer accidentally grants a large group, including some non-disclosure–exempt contractors, access to a folder containing patent-pending code.

How Strac's Sharepoint DLP Helps

Holistic File Scanning: Strac inspects documents, PDFs, and archives for code snippets, system designs, and proprietary business terms to detect potential IP.
Intelligent Labeling: Documents identified as containing IP or trade secrets are automatically classified (e.g., “Proprietary IP”), reinforcing the need for restricted sharing.
Real-Time Access Insights: With Strac, administrators can instantly see who has access to IP-tagged files, enabling them to remove unauthorized users or reduce permission scopes.
Immediate Link Removal: If a contractor or external partner is mistakenly granted access to IP, Strac revokes public or unauthorized sharing before the files can be downloaded.
Alerts & Blocking: Strac’s policies can be configured to alert security teams or block external sharing attempts for files containing proprietary content.
Incident Response & Auditing: Detailed logs of every share request, label change, and access revocation aid in quick incident resolution and help prove due diligence if legal issues arise.