Tool Overview:
ARCAD DOT

About ARCAD DOT

ARCAD DOT is a data detection and anonymization platform designed to help organizations comply with privacy regulations like GDPR and Law 25. The solution focuses on discovering personal data across various sources and providing anonymization capabilities to protect sensitive information while maintaining data usability. ARCAD Software, the company behind DOT, develops this solution specifically for organizations that need to handle personal data securely in testing, development, and analytical environments.

What does ARCAD DOT do?

The platform provides comprehensive data detection capabilities across multiple data sources, including SQL and NoSQL databases, software package storage, emails, and hidden data in various formats like Excel files and CSV exports. DOT employs detection rules to identify both direct personal identifiers such as names, addresses, and social security numbers, as well as indirect identifiers that could lead to re-identification through data cross-referencing.

Once personal data is detected, DOT's anonymization functionality transforms this information while preserving its format and maintaining relationships between database tables. The solution supports real-time masking of production data and includes features for adding conditional filters and numerical noise to further protect sensitive information. Users can manage anonymization rules centrally and execute projects immediately or schedule them for later deployment.

The platform integrates with continuous integration and continuous deployment (CI/CD) cycles and provides centralized test data management. DOT implements cache purging mechanisms and ensures consistency of anonymization across multiple databases before deletion. The solution can be controlled through either a rich client or web interface, offering flexibility in how organizations manage their data protection processes.

What makes ARCAD DOT different?

A key aspect of DOT's approach is its focus on maintaining data usability after anonymization. The platform preserves the relationships between tables and ensures masked data retains realistic characteristics, which is crucial for testing and development purposes. Unlike basic pseudonymization solutions, DOT provides irreversible anonymization techniques that prevent re-identification while allowing organizations to combine distinct data sets securely.

The solution addresses the challenge of detection completeness through extensive coverage of data sources and sophisticated detection rules. These rules can identify personal data that might be linked to individuals either directly or indirectly, helping organizations meet the stringent requirements of privacy regulations that extend beyond obvious identifiers to include any data that could be used for re-identification through cross-referencing.

Use cases and industries

ARCAD DOT serves several specific use cases in data privacy management. Organizations use the platform to implement the right to be forgotten by removing personal data from entire information systems. The solution supports the extraction of anonymized databases for testing purposes and enables the generation of specific test data sets for applications. Companies also utilize DOT to extract anonymized statistical data from system components while maintaining compliance with privacy regulations.

The platform has found application in the insurance sector, as demonstrated by its implementation at ADIS, an insurance brokerage company focusing on life and health insurance. In this context, DOT addresses the automation of customer data anonymization to meet regulatory requirements. The solution particularly suits organizations dealing with strict privacy regulations and those requiring secure data handling in development and testing environments.