Exclusion process | Germain Documentation

🔒 Configure Privacy Exclusions

GermainUX provides configurable mechanisms for protecting sensitive information in analytics data and Session Replay recordings.

Depending on the use case, a value or element can be:

Option	Meaning
Masked	— replaced with characters such as `***`
Anonymized	— replaced with a hashed representation
Excluded	— prevented from being collected, transmitted, or stored

These controls help prevent information such as usernames, email addresses, IP addresses, payment-card details, and sensitive form values from being exposed through GermainUX.

📄 Privacy Rule Types

Rule type	Description
Data Field Exclusion	Protects fields collected for analytics, such as usernames, IP addresses, email addresses, or custom properties.
Session Replay Exclusion	Protects HTML and DOM elements, such as payment or personal-information fields, from appearing in Session Replay recordings.

⚙️ Data Field Exclusion

A Data Field Exclusion rule protects a field collected through one or more KPIs.

The rule can:

Action
Mask the field
Anonymize its value
Exclude it from collection
Apply only to selected KPIs
Preserve character length or whitespace when masking
Apply protection only to content matching a regular expression

💡 Create a Data Field Exclusion Rule

Go to GermainUX Workspace > Analytics > Data Privacy.
Click +.
Select Data Field Exclusion.
Complete the configuration.
Save the rule.

📋 Configuration Fields

Field	Description
Name	Descriptive name for the rule, such as `Hide Username`.
Field Name	Data-model field to protect, such as `user.name`.
KPI	Optional restriction that applies the rule only to selected KPIs.
Type	Privacy control to apply: Mask, Anonymize, or Exclude.
Preserve Length	Maintains the original number of characters when masking.
Preserve Whitespace	Retains spaces while masking the other characters.
Pattern	Optional regular expression used to protect only matching content.

📌 Example: Mask a Username

The following configuration masks user.name without preserving its original length or whitespace:

Field	Value
Name	`Hide Username`
Field Name	`user.name`
Type	`Mask`
Preserve Length	`No`
Preserve Whitespace	`No`

🎥 Session Replay Exclusion

A Session Replay Exclusion rule protects sensitive HTML or DOM content from appearing in recorded sessions.

Elements are selected using CSS selectors. Each matching element can then be masked, anonymized, or excluded.

🔧 Create a Session Replay Exclusion Rule

Go to GermainUX Workspace > Analytics > Data Privacy.
Click +.
Select Session Replay Exclusion.
Complete the configuration.
Save the rule.

📋 Configuration Fields

Field	Description
Application Profile	UX Monitoring Profile to which the rule applies, such as `reactAppProfile`.
Name	Descriptive name for the privacy rule.
Element Selector	CSS selector identifying the HTML or DOM elements to protect.
Type	Privacy control to apply: Mask, Anonymize, or Exclude.
Preserve Length	Maintains the original number of characters when masking.
Preserve Whitespace	Retains spaces while masking other characters.
Pattern	Optional regular expression used to protect matching content within the selected elements.

💳 Example: Exclude Payment-Card Fields

The following rule excludes input elements whose autocomplete attribute begins with cc-:

Field	Value
Name	`Exclude Payment Card Fields`
Element Selector	`input[autocomplete^="cc-"]`
Type	`Exclude`

This selector can match standardized payment fields such as card number, expiration date, and security-code inputs.

✅ Validation Recommendations

After creating a rule:

Check
Test it in a non-production environment.
Confirm that it applies to every intended field or element.
Verify that protected values do not appear in analytics or Session Replay.
Test dynamic pages, embedded components, and single-page application navigation.
Confirm that the selector or regular expression does not hide unrelated information.
Repeat validation whenever the monitored application changes.

When sensitive data is not required for monitoring, use Exclude so the value does not enter the GermainUX data pipeline.

Service: Management

Feature Availability: 2020.1 or later