# US 2018/0322306 A1 · Techniques and Architectures for Selective Obfuscation of Personally Identifiable Information (PII) in Environments Capable of Replicating Data > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 2018/0322306 A1 - Document ID: US20180322306A1 - Status: Published application - Kind: A1 - Application number: 15/600,521 - Filed: 2017-05-19 - Published: 2018-11-08 - Earliest claimed: 2017-05-03 - Assignees: salesforce.com, inc. - Applicants: salesforce.com, inc. - Inventors: Olumayokun Obembe; Gregory Lapouchnian; Vijayanth Devadhar; Jason Woods; Karthikeyan Govindarajan; Ashwini Bijwe; Prasad Peddada - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US20180322306A1 ## CPC - G06F 21/6254: {by anonymising data, e.g. decorrelating personal data from the owner's identification} - G06F 9/466: {Transaction processing} - G06F 16/31: Indexing; Data structures therefor; Storage structures - G06F 21/6209: {to a single file or object, e.g. in a secure envelope, encrypted and accessed using a key, or with access control rules appended to the object itself} - G06F 21/6245: {Protecting personal data, e.g. for financial or medical purposes} - H04L 9/3239: {involving non-keyed hash functions, e.g. modification detection codes [MDCs], MD5, SHA or RIPEMD} - H04L 2209/42: Anonymization, e.g. involving pseudonyms - G06F: ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING (computer systems based on specific computational models G06N) - H04L: TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION (arrangements common to telegraphic and telephonic communication H04M) ## Abstract Within one or more instances of a computing environment where an instance is a self-contained architecture to provide at least one database with corresponding search and file system. User information from the one or more instances of the computing environment is organized as zones. A zone is based on one or more characteristics of corresponding user information that are different than the instance to which the user information belongs. User information is selectively obfuscated prior to transmitting blocks of data including the obfuscated user information. The selective obfuscation is based on zone information for one or more zones to which the user information belongs. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A system comprising: a plurality of hardware computing systems each having one or more processors and at least one memory component coupled with the one or more processors, the plurality of hardware computing systems to provide one or more instances of a computing environment, wherein an instance is a self-contained architecture to provide at least one database with corresponding search and file system; the plurality of hardware computing systems to organize user information from the one or more instances of the computing environment as zones, wherein a zone is based on one or more characteristics of corresponding user information that are different than the instance to which the user information belongs; the plurality of hardware computing systems to selectively obfuscate user information prior to transmitting blocks of data including the obfuscated user information from a source zone to a destination zone, wherein the selective obfuscation is based on zone information for the source zone and the destination zone. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The system of claim 1 wherein the computing environment comprises a multitenant environment, wherein a tenant comprises a group of users who share a common access with specific privileges to a specified instance. ### Claim 3 (depends on 2) The system of claim 2 wherein the multi-tenant architecture provides each tenant with a dedicated share of the specified instance including one or more of tenant specific data, user management, tenant-specific functionality, configuration, customizations, non-functional properties and associated applications. ### Claim 4 (depends on 2) The system of claim 2 wherein the one or more characteristics comprise at least tenant information for the corresponding user information. ### Claim 5 (depends on 1) The system of claim 1 wherein the one or more characteristics comprise at least geographic information for the corresponding user information. ### Claim 6 (depends on 1) The system of claim 1 wherein the one or more characteristics comprise at least security information for the corresponding user information. ### Claim 7 (depends on 1) The system of claim 1 wherein the one or more characteristics comprise at least personally identifiable information (PII) for the corresponding user information. ### Claim 8 (depends on 1) The system of claim 1 wherein the zones comprise a first zone and a second zone, and further wherein replication of data includes obfuscating personally identifiable information (PII) that is to flow from the first zone to the second zone. ### Claim 9 (depends on 1) The system of claim 1 wherein the zones comprise at least one standard zone, at least one public zone, and further wherein replication of data includes obfuscating personally identifiable information (PII) that is to flow from a first geographic region to a second geographic region. ### Claim 10 A method implemented within one or more instances of a computing environment, wherein an instance is a self-contained architecture to provide at least one database with corresponding search and file system, the method comprising: organizing user information from the one or more instances of the computing environment as zones, wherein a zone is based on one or more characteristics of corresponding user information that are different than the instance to which the user information belongs; selectively obfuscating user information prior to transmitting blocks of data including the obfuscated user information from a source zone to a destination zone, wherein the selective obfuscation is based on zone information for the source zone and the destination zone. ### Claim 11 (depends on 10) The method of claim 10 wherein the computing environment comprises a multitenant environment, wherein a tenant comprises a group of users who share a common access with specific privileges to a specified instance. ### Claim 12 (depends on 11) The method of claim 11 wherein the multi-tenant architecture provides each tenant with a dedicated share of the specified instance including one or more of tenant specific data, user management, tenant-specific functionality, configuration, customizations, non-functional properties and associated applications. ### Claim 13 (depends on 11) The method of claim 11 wherein the one or more characteristics comprise at least tenant information for the corresponding user information. ### Claim 14 (depends on 10) The method of claim 10 wherein the one or more characteristics comprise at least geographic information for the corresponding user information. ### Claim 15 (depends on 10) The method of claim 10 wherein the one or more characteristics comprise at least security information for the corresponding user information. ### Claim 16 (depends on 10) The method of claim 10 wherein the one or more characteristics comprise at least personally identifiable information (PII) for the corresponding user information. ### Claim 17 (depends on 10) The method of claim 10 wherein the zones comprise a first zone and a second zone, and further wherein replication of data includes obfuscating personally identifiable information (PII) that is to flow from the first zone to the second zone. ### Claim 18 (depends on 10) The method of claim 10 wherein the zones comprise at least one standard zone, at least one public zone, and further wherein replication of data includes obfuscating personally identifiable information (PII) that is to flow from a first geographic region to a second geographic region. ### Claim 19 A non-transitory computer-readable medium having stored thereon instructions that, when executed, are configurable to cause one or more processors to provide one or more instances of a computing environment, wherein an instance is a self-contained architecture to provide at least one database with corresponding search and file system, the instructions further comprising instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to: organize user information from the one or more instances of the computing environment as zones, wherein a zone is based on one or more characteristics of corresponding user information that are different than the instance to which the user information belongs; selectively obfuscate user information prior to transmitting blocks of data including the obfuscated user information from a source zone to a destination zone, wherein the selective obfuscation is based on zone information for the source zone and the destination zone. ### Claim 20 (depends on 19) The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 19 wherein the computing environment comprises a multitenant environment, wherein a tenant comprises a group of users who share a common access with specific privileges to a specified instance. ### Claim 21 (depends on 20) The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 20 wherein the multi-tenant architecture provides each tenant with a dedicated share of the specified instance including one or more of tenant specific data, user management, tenant-specific functionality, configuration, customizations, non-functional properties and associated applications. ### Claim 22 (depends on 20) The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 20 wherein the one or more characteristics comprise at least tenant information for the corresponding user information. ### Claim 23 (depends on 19) The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 19 wherein the one or more characteristics comprise at least geographic information for the corresponding user information. ### Claim 24 (depends on 19) The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 19 wherein the one or more characteristics comprise at least security information for the corresponding user information. ### Claim 25 (depends on 19) The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 19 wherein the one or more characteristics comprise at least personally identifiable information (PII) for the corresponding user information. ### Claim 26 (depends on 19) The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 19 wherein the zones comprise a first zone and a second zone, and further wherein replication of data includes obfuscating personally identifiable information (PII) that is to flow from the first zone to the second zone. ### Claim 27 (depends on 19) The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 19 wherein the zones comprise at least one standard zone, at least one public zone, and further wherein replication of data includes obfuscating personally identifiable information (PII) that is to flow from a first geographic region to a second geographic region.