4 ways to manage PII in your log pipeline

With the rise of cloud computing and SaaS platforms, managing personally identifiable information (PII) has become increasingly crucial, especially due to regulations like the GDPR. The text discusses methods to prevent PII from entering log streams, which is essential for legal and contractual compliance. It outlines a multi-layered approach to manage PII, starting from application-level governance, where internal practices can prevent sensitive data from being logged, to forwarding layer governance that involves filtering and obfuscation techniques using tools like fluentd or Logstash. Additionally, the text highlights how New Relic's backend provides facilities for pre-persistence governance through drop and obfuscation rules, as well as custom and automatic obfuscation configurations. It also addresses post-persistence governance by managing account access to telemetry data, ensuring that only authorized users can view sensitive information. These strategies help organizations maintain data privacy and security across their digital infrastructure.