Sentry Data Handling

Overview

Configure Sentry to handle sensitive data properly and maintain compliance.

PII Scrubbing

Built-in Data Scrubbing

Sentry.init({
  dsn: process.env.SENTRY_DSN,

  // Enable server-side scrubbing
  sendDefaultPii: false, // Default

  // Client-side scrubbing
  beforeSend(event) {
    // Remove sensitive headers
    if (event.request?.headers) {
      delete event.request.headers['Authorization'];
      delete event.request.headers['Cookie'];
      delete event.request.headers['X-API-Key'];
    }
    return event;
  },
});

Custom Data Scrubbing

Sentry.init({
  dsn: process.env.SENTRY_DSN,

  beforeSend(event, hint) {
    // Scrub email addresses
    if (event.user?.email) {
      event.user.email = '[REDACTED]';
    }

    // Scrub credit card numbers
    const ccRegex = /\b\d{4}[-\s]?\d{4}[-\s]?\d{4}[-\s]?\d{4}\b/g;
    if (event.message) {
      event.message = event.message.replace(ccRegex, '[CREDIT_CARD]');
    }

    // Scrub phone numbers
    const phoneRegex = /\b\d{3}[-.]?\d{3}[-.]?\d{4}\b/g;
    if (event.extra) {
      event.extra = JSON.parse(
        JSON.stringify(event.extra).replace(phoneRegex, '[PHONE]')
      );
    }

    return event;
  },
});

Scrub Specific Fields

function scrubSensitiveData(obj: Record<string, unknown>): Record<string, unknown> {
  const sensitiveKeys = [
    'password', 'secret', 'token', 'apiKey', 'api_key',
    'ssn', 'social_security', 'credit_card', 'cvv',
  ];

  return Object.entries(obj).reduce((acc, [key, value]) => {
    if (sensitiveKeys.some(k => key.toLowerCase().includes(k))) {
      acc[key] = '[FILTERED]';
    } else if (typeof value === 'object' && value !== null) {
      acc[key] = scrubSensitiveData(value as Record<string, unknown>);
    } else {
      acc[key] = value;
    }
    return acc;
  }, {} as Record<string, unknown>);
}

Sentry.init({
  dsn: process.env.SENTRY_DSN,
  beforeSend(event) {
    if (event.extra) {
      event.extra = scrubSensitiveData(event.extra);
    }
    return event;
  },
});

Server-Side Data Scrubbing

Sentry Dashboard Settings

1. Project Settings → Security & Privacy
2. Enable "Data Scrubber"
3. Configure scrubbing rules:
   • Default fields (passwords, tokens, etc.)
   • Custom field patterns
   • IP address anonymization

Advanced Data Scrubbing Rules

{
  "applications": {
    "scrubData": true,
    "scrubDefaults": true,
    "sensitiveFields": [
      "password",
      "secret",
      "token",
      "apiKey",
      "ssn"
    ],
    "safeFields": [
      "username",
      "email_domain"
    ],
    "scrubIpAddresses": true
  }
}

GDPR Compliance

Right to Erasure (Delete User Data)

# Delete all events for a user
curl -X DELETE \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $SENTRY_AUTH_TOKEN" \
  "https://sentry.io/api/0/projects/$ORG/$PROJECT/users/$USER_ID/"

Programmatic User Data Deletion

async function deleteUserData(userId: string) {
  const response = await fetch(
    `https://sentry.io/api/0/projects/${ORG}/${PROJECT}/users/${userId}/`,
    {
      method: 'DELETE',
      headers: {
        'Authorization': `Bearer ${SENTRY_AUTH_TOKEN}`,
      },
    }
  );
  return response.ok;
}

User Consent Handling

function initSentryWithConsent(hasConsent: boolean) {
  Sentry.init({
    dsn: hasConsent ? process.env.SENTRY_DSN : undefined,

    // Don't send any PII
    sendDefaultPii: false,

    // Anonymize user
    beforeSend(event) {
      if (event.user) {
        event.user = {
          id: hashUserId(event.user.id), // Pseudonymized ID
          // Remove all other user fields
        };
      }
      return event;
    },
  });
}

Data Retention

Configure Retention Period

• Organization Settings → Data Retention
• Options: 30, 60, 90 days (depends on plan)
• Shorter retention = better compliance, less storage

Automatic Data Cleanup

# Events are automatically deleted after retention period
# No manual action required

IP Address Handling

Disable IP Collection

Sentry.init({
  dsn: process.env.SENTRY_DSN,

  // Don't store IP addresses
  sendDefaultPii: false,

  // Or manually anonymize
  beforeSend(event) {
    if (event.user?.ip_address) {
      // Anonymize to /24 subnet
      const parts = event.user.ip_address.split('.');
      event.user.ip_address = `${parts[0]}.${parts[1]}.${parts[2]}.0`;
    }
    return event;
  },
});

Server-Side IP Anonymization

Project Settings → Security & Privacy → "Prevent Storing of IP Addresses"

Compliance Checklist

GDPR Requirements

□ Data scrubbing enabled
□ IP anonymization enabled
□ User consent captured (if required)
□ Data retention policy set
□ Right to erasure process documented
□ Data processing agreement with Sentry

HIPAA Considerations

□ Business Associate Agreement (BAA) with Sentry
□ PHI scrubbing configured
□ Audit logging enabled
□ Access controls configured
□ Encryption verified (Sentry uses TLS)

PCI-DSS Requirements

□ Card data never sent to Sentry
□ Card numbers scrubbed in beforeSend
□ CVV/CVC never logged
□ Audit trail maintained

Testing Data Scrubbing

// Test that sensitive data is scrubbed
describe('Sentry data scrubbing', () => {
  it('should scrub credit card numbers', () => {
    const event = {
      message: 'Payment failed for card 4111-1111-1111-1111',
    };
    const scrubbed = beforeSend(event);
    expect(scrubbed.message).not.toContain('4111');
    expect(scrubbed.message).toContain('[CREDIT_CARD]');
  });
});

Resources

• Sentry Data Privacy
• GDPR Compliance
• Data Scrubbing