Zansa › Answers › Privacy, security and ownership
How can a small business de-identify data before building reports?
Remove or mask direct identifiers such as names, email addresses, phone numbers and ID numbers, replace them with codes where you still need to group records, and generalise details like exact dates of birth or full addresses. Dashboards usually need totals and trends rather than individuals.
A practical approach:
- Decide what each report needs to show
- Drop every field not needed for that purpose
- Replace identifiers with consistent codes
- Generalise precise details, such as age bands instead of birth dates
- Keep any key that could reverse the process separate and restricted
Test whether combined fields could still identify someone, particularly in small groups.
Want this applied to your business? Zansa builds dashboards and forecasts for small and mid-sized companies worldwide. Start with a free intro call.
Book a call