Ewa Korzeniewska

Hi Ashley, great to hear you are interested in this feature!
Please read the article here: What is the Zendesk Data Masking Sandbox EAP?

Thanks Michael for your comment! Please try now :) 

This page captures all the known degradations the customer accounts will suffer with “Data Masking” feature enabled in their Sandbox accounts.

Product Degradations

Manage end users

Agents with data masking applied cannot perform actions such as bulk deleting users, suspending users from the profile page, deleting users, or merging users. This limitation arises because agents need access to unmasked PII to manage end users properly. Without this information, they cannot identify the user profiles and records accurately to take the specified actions.

Search and view lists of end users

When data masking is enabled for certain agents, they will be unable to search for users by name, email address, or phone number. This restriction extends to accessing the customer list, rendering these functionalities not fully usable. The rationale behind this limitation is to prevent the identification of users, which is crucial for maintaining their privacy.

Manage suspended tickets

When data masking is applied to certain agents, those agents will not have the ability to manage suspended tickets. This restriction is in place to prevent agents from acting on tickets when there is insufficient information regarding the reason for suspension, such as when the email address is masked.

Data Masking Sandbox Early Access Program (EAP)

We are excited to announce that we’ll soon launch the Data Masking Sandbox Early Access Program (EAP), designed to enhance the privacy and security of your end user data within the Zendesk platform. This program introduces a vital feature aimed at protecting sensitive information, ensuring that personally identifiable information (PII) remains confidential and accessible only to authorized users.

Why Data Masking Matters

Organizations increasingly need to manage which agents can access end-user PII data to limit identification and exposure. This need arises from various factors, including compliance with regulations, protecting sensitive data, and building customer trust. By utilizing data masking, Zendesk customers can ensure that only privileged users have access to sensitive information, thereby enhancing overall data security.

About the Data Masking Feature

The Zendesk Data Masking feature is a robust security measure that safeguards sensitive data by masking PII, including names, phone numbers, and email addresses from certain agents. This functionality not only helps organizations comply with various data protection regulations but also minimizes the risk of data breaches and unauthorized access. By implementing data masking, companies can build customer trust and protect vulnerable groups, such as minors and VIPs, from being over exposed.

At this stage of product development, we are focusing on masking the name, e-mail and phone number of end users for Custom roles with data masking enabled. 

When masking is turned on for any of these data, the content will be replaced by asterisks (*). Turning on the data will also have downstream effects to other permissions and actions within Support.

Key Features of the Data Masking Sandbox EAP

The Data Masking Sandbox EAP will introduce several key features designed to enhance data privacy within the Zendesk platform. Key provisions include adding within Zendesk Support product in Sandbox:

1. Role-Based Permissions: Implement checks to determine when to mask Personally Identifiable Information (PII) such as names, email addresses, and phone numbers based on user permissions. This feature will also include an info box to educate users about the implications of data masking.
2. Masked Views: The requester’s PII will be masked in substantial parts of system fields in views and exports when designated for custom roles, ensuring sensitive information is protected.
3. Masked Ticketing interface: The requester’s PII will be masked in certain areas of system fields in the ticketing interface, with plans for further improvements in upcoming releases.

EAP Participation Guidelines

Important Note: If you're not a Zendesk admin, please forward the signup form to your account's administrator, as only registrations by admins will be considered.

This EAP is specifically available for customers on the Enterprise or Enterprise+ Plan with custom roles and a Sandbox environment. 

EAP Limitations

As this is an Early Access Program, please be aware of the following limitations:

• The EAP may have known service degradations, which can be found in the Data Masking Disclosures and Degradations post within this EAP topic..
• Participation in the EAP is not covered under your Business Associate Agreement (BAA) with Zendesk, so you cannot pass Protected Health Information (PHI) through these features.
• Features may operate slower than expected, be unavailable at times, or undergo significant changes during and after the EAP.

We value your feedback and encourage you to report any issues or unexpected behavior you encounter.

How to Get Started with the EAP

To participate in the Data Masking Sandbox EAP, please sign up through the provided Google form. After Zendesk reviews your submission, we will send you a confirmation email regarding your EAP participation. Note that the EAP sign-ups have been opened ahead of the actual start of the EAP, which is slated for around mid-November. You will then have access to new data masking capabilities in your Sandbox without any additional action required on your part.

How can I provide feedback

As a participant in the EAP, we kindly ask for your active engagement and feedback. This may include participating in surveys, providing feedback on your experience, and reporting any issues you encounter. Your insights and suggestions will be invaluable in helping us refine our products and ensure they meet the needs of all our customers.

If you have any questions or need further clarification, please don't hesitate to comment on this thread.

We look forward to your participation in this EAP and your contributions to enhancing data privacy within the Zendesk platform!

Hey BAKO,
thank you for taking the time to provide us with this feedback. We apologize for the delay on our end in providing you with a response to your feature request.
This feature request has been accepted and is on our roadmap in 2025. Per our Community Guidelines that we do not provide specific timelines around releases for our product and any discussion of planning is always subject to change. To stay on top of product releases please visit our What’s New page in the Help Center. We are going to leave this post open for comment to allow others to provide their feedback and use cases.
Thank you again for your feedback and for being a valuable customer with Zendesk.
 

Zendesk 一直在扩大数据局部性的支持范围，我们很高兴地宣布，Zendesk 现已将数据局部性覆盖范围扩大到英国和日本大阪。通过此次重要更新，您可以控制数据的存储位置。这还意味着，您在英国和大阪的数据局部性要求将受到支持，可以在这两个地方托管各种 Zendesk 服务数据，包括 Support、Chat、Guide 和 Gather。 

此公告回答了以下问题：

• 有什么变化？
• Zendesk 为何作出这项更改？
• 我需要做些什么？
• 在哪里可以找到更多信息？

有什么变化？

订阅者服务数据现可托管在以下 AWS 区域： 

• 英国（伦敦）
• 亚太地区（大阪）

以前，订阅者服务数据只能托管在以下 AWS 区域： 

• 美国东部（北弗吉尼亚）
• 美国东部（俄亥俄州）
• 美国西部（俄勒冈）
• 欧洲经济区（爱尔兰）
• 欧洲经济区（法兰克福）
• 亚太地区（东京）
• 亚太地区（悉尼）

英国或大阪的数据中心位置功能覆盖哪些 Zendesk 产品？

随着新的托管选项将于 2024 年第 3 季度在英国和大阪推出，Zendesk 将在这些地方为主要产品和功能提供数据局部性：

• Zendesk Support
• Zendesk Chat
• Zendesk Gather
• Zendesk Guide
• Zendesk Sunshine

Zendesk Explore、WFM (Tymeshift)、QA (Klaus) 和 Ultimate 将于后期阶段提供。

有关“数据中心位置”功能所涵盖的 Zendesk 功能的全面概览以及例外情况，请参阅区域数据托管政策。

Zendesk 为何作出这项更改？

我们将在英国和大阪提供新的数据托管位置，以满足人们对数据主权和区域数据隐私法规合规不断增长的需求。通过在这些位置托管客户数据，我们确保他们可以在特定的地理范围内存储和处理其数据，这对于遵守当地法律和标准至关重要。这一点对于金融、医疗和政府等受到严格监管行业的企业尤其重要。在这些行业中，数据主权问题非常重要。

此外，在这些地区拥有大量客户的公司可从改进后的国内托管中受益，从而增强客户数据的私密性。对于希望扩大其全球足迹，同时保持高标准的数据安全和合规性的跨国公司而言，英国和大阪的数据局部性也具有优势。

我需要做些什么？

无论您是尚未开始使用 Zendesk 的新客户，还是老客户，都可以选择加入数据局部性，以便将数据保留在指定区域。选择适当选项以加入：

• 如果您尚未为 Zendesk 帐户请求数据局部性：
  联系 Zendesk 业务经理或 Zendesk 客户支持团队，为您的帐户激活数据局部性，并将数据存储在特定区域。

• 如果您之前已为 Zendesk 帐户请求数据局部性，并希望将数据移动到两个新地区之一：
  联系 Zendesk 业务经理或 Zendesk 客户支持，将帐户数据托管迁移到特定区域。

数据局部性资格

数据局部性将默认包含或作为附加功能提供，具体取决于您订阅的 Zendesk 服务模式。 

• 如果您是 Zendesk Suite 客户，数据局部性默认包含在您的订阅中，并在激活后启用（联系您的 Zendesk 业务经理或 Zendesk 客户支持以激活数据局部性）。
• Zendesk Support Professional 或 Support Enterprise 服务模式用户可以购买数据局部性作为附加功能。 

如果不确定您的服务模式是否包含数据局部性，请咨询您的 Zendesk 业务经理或联系 Zendesk 客户支持。

在哪里可以找到更多信息？

有关购买数据本地化作为附加功能的更多信息，请参阅关于数据中心位置附加功能。要详细了解不同数据托管位置支持哪些功能，请参阅 Zendesk 的区域数据托管政策。

如果您有此公告相关产品反馈或功能请求，请访问我们的社区论坛，我们将在这里收集和管理客户对产品的反馈。如需获取关于 Zendesk 产品的常规帮助，请联系 Zendesk 客户支持。