> ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.mezmo.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Redact Processor > Identify and redact PII such as SSNs, emails, credit cards, and phone numbers in your data stream using pattern detection, hashing, or replacement. ## Description With this Processor you can identify and redact Personally Identifiable Information (PII) in your data stream. This includes items like: * Social Security numbers * Email addresses * Credit cards * Phone numbers This Processor identifies PII based on pattern detection. When the specified pattern is detected, you have the option to replace it with a specified string, or use a standard hash. When using this Processor in a [Mezmo Edge Pipelines for Local Data](/mezmo-edge/mezmo-edge-pipelines-for-local-data), you can also specify a regular expression to use for pattern detection. ## Configuration | Option | Description | Example/Options | | - | - | - | | **Title** | A title for the processor | Redact SSN | | **Description** | A description of the Processor's function in the Pipeline | Replaces SSNs with a text string | | **Field (Optional)** | The field to search for the pattern. If the field is not specified, the Processor will look for the pattern across all the fields. | `Message` | | **Mask Pattern** | | | | | **Pattern** | Credit card number

Email address

IPv4 address

US or Canada phone number

US social security number

Custom Regex Pattern ([Mezmo Edge Pipelines for Local Data](/mezmo-edge/mezmo-edge-pipelines-for-local-data)only) | | | **Action** | Hash

Replace

Detect Only | | | Hash Options

The value is hashed and base64 encoded | md5

sha1

sha2 (sha2-512\_256)

sha3 (sha3-512) | | | Replacement | \ | | **PII Presence** | When pre-set or custom PII patterns are detected in an event, a metadata field will be added to the event that can be used by down stream processors for collecting metrics or [trigger an alert](/telemetry-pipelines/presence-of-personally-identifying-information--pii-) that this pattern is present. Metadata field will indicate one or more PII patterns detected in the event as shown below:

"pii\_presence": \{

"email\_address": "yes",

"us\_social\_security\_number": "yes"

}

If no PII patterns are detected, *pii\_presence* field will not be added to the metadata. | On or Off | ### Pre-defined Patterns #### Social Security Number The US social security number pattern matches any valid social security number sequence, with or without optional delimiters. Examples: * XXX YY ZZZZ * XXX-YY-ZZZZ * XXX YY-ZZZZ * XXX-YY ZZZZ * XXXYYZZZZ #### Phone Number The phone number pattern matches valid phone numbers, with or without space, hyphen or period (.) delimiters. Valid phone numbers include: 1. +1 XXX YYY ZZZZ 2. +1 (XXX) YYY ZZZZ 3. +1.(XXX).YYY.ZZZZ 4. +1XXXYYYZZZZ 5. +1-XXX YYY.ZZZZ, etc. . The matcher will also match parts of sequences (false positives). Partially matched phone numbers includes: 1. XXX.YYY.ZZZZ will be matched in the input +1\_XXX.YYY.ZZZZ 2. XXX.YYY.ZZZZ will be matched in the input +1.MXXX.YYY.ZZZZ #### Credit Card Number The credit card pattern currently matches Visa, MasterCard, American Express, Diners club and JCB card numbers. **Visa** 13 to 16 digit numbers starting with 4. Examples: 4XXXXXXXXXXXX or 4XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX **MasterCard** 16 digit numbers starting with 21-27 (new range) or 51-57 (old range). Examples: 21XXXXXXXXXXXXXX or 56XXXXXXXXXXXXXX **American Express (AMEX)** 15 digit numbers starting with 34 or 37. Examples: 34XXXXXXXXXXXXX or 37XXXXXXXXXXXXX **Diners Club** 14 digit numbers starting with 300-305 or 360-389. Examples: 300XXXXXXXXXXX or 389XXXXXXXXXXX **JCB** 15 digit numbers starting with 2131 or 1800 or 16 digit numbers starting with 35. Examples: 2131XXXXXXXXXXX. ### Email Address Matches RFC 5322 compliant email addresses. Examples: [user@dummy.com](mailto:user@dummy.com), [user@127.0.0.1](mailto:user@127.0.0.1), etc ## Interactive Demo Check out an interactive demo of the Redact Processor as a component in [a Compliance group](/practioner-guide-data-optimization/pipeline-module--security-and-compliance), as well as instructions for building a version of the Pipette with your own sample data. ## Examples ### Redact Social Security Number with String | Option | Value | | - | - | | Pattern | US social security number | | Action | Replace | | Replacement | 000-00-000 | ### Redact Social Security Number to Hash | Option | Value | | - | - | | Pattern | US social security number | | Action | Hash | | Hash | md5 | ### Custom Regex Example: Redact Canadian Social Security Number | Option | Value | | - | - | | Pattern | Custom | | Action | Replace | | Expression | (?\(\d\{3})-(\d\{3})-(\d\{3})) | | Replacement | 111-111-111 | ### Redact Email Address to String | Option | Value | | - | - | | Pattern | Email address | | Action | Replace | | Replacement | [someone@nowwhere.com](mailto:someone@nowwhere.com) |