Irreversibility Warning: Once a user’s data is pseudonymised, it cannot be restored. Review your actions carefully before proceeding.
Note: This feature is only accessible to users with the “Owner” role.
What is Pseudonymisation?
Pseudonymisation is a data protection process that safeguards personal information by replacing it with artificial identifiers. This ensures the privacy of individuals while still allowing customers to retain some level of useful data for reporting or analytics.
For example, instead of storing a user’s name and email, we might store “User123” and a generic placeholder email address.
Why Use Pseudonymisation?
This feature helps your organisation:
Protect User Privacy: Align with GDPR regulations by removing personally identifiable information after a user is no longer active.
Maintain Analytics: Continue using pseudonymised data for valuable statistical reporting and decision-making without identifying individuals.
Key Features of the Pseudonymisation Setting
Automated Process
Deactivated users’ data is automatically pseudonymised after a set period.
You can customise the delay (between 1 and 6 years) to suit your organisation’s needs.
Why these limits?
1 years minimum: Covers scenarios like parental leave, allowing users to return if needed.
6 years maximum: Aligns with GDPR’s principle of limiting data retention to what is necessary.
You can manually psyhedponomise at anytime manually through the User Interface.
Data Usability
Pseudonymised data can still be used in aggregate for reporting, analytics, and other non-identifiable purposes, ensuring no disruption to your insights.
How to Enable and Configure Pseudonymisation
Important: Once a user’s data is pseudonymised, it cannot be restored. Review your actions carefully before proceeding.
Navigate to Company Settings > People > Data Protection.
Locate the “Automated Pseudonymisation” option.
Enable the setting and choose your delay period (between 1 and 6 years).
Save your changes.
To manually pseudonymise a user:
Go to the user’s profile in the User Interface.
Select the Pseudonymise User, and confirm.
How It Works
Delay Period: Pseudonymisation occurs after the deactivation date plus the configured delay period.
Timestamp: A confirmation timestamp is recorded once the pseudonymisation process is complete.
Aggregate Usability: The pseudonymised data remains usable for statistical and reporting purposes without compromising user privacy.
Example Use Case
A user is deactivated on 1st January 2025.
Your organisation has set a pseudonymisation delay of 3 years.
On 1st January 2028, the user’s data will be pseudonymised automatically. Alternatively, you can manually pseudonymise the user sooner if required.