What does it mean to "sanitize" data?

To "sanitize" data refers to the process of removing sensitive information from a dataset before it is shared or made public. This is a critical practice, especially within the context of the Department of Defense and other organizations that handle confidential or classified information. The goal of sanitizing data is to protect privacy and ensure compliance with regulations such as the Privacy Act, which mandates that personally identifiable information (PII) and sensitive data are not disclosed unintentionally.

Sanitizing can involve redacting names, addresses, Social Security numbers, and other identifiers that could be used to trace back to individuals or to compromise security. It ensures that the data shared or published is devoid of any information that could pose a security risk or violate privacy rights.

Other options, such as compressing data or converting it into a different format, do not address the need for protecting sensitive information. While encrypting data does enhance security by making it inaccessible without the corresponding decryption keys, it does not involve the removal of sensitive information, which is the essence of sanitization.