How to Mask Data in ParadeDB

How do I mask sensitive columns in ParadeDB?

Data masking in ParadeDB hides or obfuscates sensitive column values at query time, letting developers share production-like datasets without exposing real information.

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Description

Example H2

Example H3

Why mask data in ParadeDB?

Masking prevents accidental exposure of PII while allowing realistic analytics and testing. ParadeDB applies rules at query time, so raw values remain untouched on disk.

What columns should I mask?

Mask any field that identifies a person—email, phone, credit-card digits, addresses, and session tokens—especially when granting readonly access to staging or analysts.

How does ParadeDB masking work?

You define a masking policy that maps columns to masking expressions.ParadeDB rewrites SELECTs for roles that are not exempt, replacing the original column with the masked expression.

Do I need to copy data?

No copies.Rules live in catalog tables and run transparently, minimising storage and sync headaches.

Step-by-step: create a masking policy

1 ) Draft a policy using CREATE MASKING POLICY.
2 ) Attach it to the target table with ALTER TABLE … ENABLE MASKING.
3 ) Grant the sensitive role a BYPASS privilege if full data is required.

Example: hide customer emails

The query in the next section masks everything right of the first character and domain name, e.g.“a*****@****.com”.

How do I test masking?

SET ROLE to an analyst account and run a simple SELECT. You should see obfuscated values. RESET ROLE and repeat as an admin to confirm unmasked data appears.

Best practices

Keep masking functions deterministic for joins; store all policies in migration scripts; review masking coverage in every release; avoid masking primary-key columns to preserve referential integrity.

Common mistakes & fixes

Using non-stable functions causes planner cache issues—mark masking functions STABLE.Forgetting to enable policies leaves data wide open—run ALTER TABLE … ENABLE MASKING in the same migration.

When should I bypass masking?

Only service accounts that absolutely must write or debug PII should receive BYPASS privileges. Prefer granting masked data to most humans.

Performance impact?

Masking adds negligible latency for simple string operations. Heavy cryptographic hashing may slow large scans; create functional indexes on masked expressions if needed.

Why How to Mask Data in ParadeDB is important

How to Mask Data in ParadeDB Example Usage


-- Analyst pulls customer list; emails are masked automatically
SET ROLE analyst;
SELECT id, name, email
FROM Customers
WHERE created_at >= CURRENT_DATE - INTERVAL '30 days';

How to Mask Data in ParadeDB Syntax


-- 1. Create masking function (one-way email obfuscation)
CREATE OR REPLACE FUNCTION mask_email(text) RETURNS text AS $$
  SELECT CONCAT(LEFT($1,1), '*****@****.', SPLIT_PART($1,'@',2)[CHAR_LENGTH(SPLIT_PART($1,'@',2))-2,3]);
$$ LANGUAGE SQL IMMUTABLE;

-- 2. Define policy on the Customers table
CREATE MASKING POLICY customer_email_mask
ON Customers (email)
USING mask_email(email)
FOR ROLE PUBLIC;  -- applies to everyone except BYPASS holders

-- 3. Enable the policy
ALTER TABLE Customers ENABLE MASKING POLICY customer_email_mask;

-- 4. Give engineers a bypass
GRANT BYPASS MASKING ON Customers TO role_engineering_leads;

Common Mistakes

Mistake: Creating masking function marked VOLATILE. Why wrong: planner may cache multiple results, risking inconsistent output. Fix: Declare masking functions as STABLE or IMMUTABLE.
Mistake: Adding policy but forgetting ENABLE MASKING. Why wrong: Policy exists but is inactive, exposing raw data. Fix: Run ALTER TABLE table ENABLE MASKING POLICY policy_name in the same migration.