GCP PHI Detection
Learn how to detect Protected Health Information (PHI) in Google Cloud Platform environments. Follow step-by-step guidance for HIPAA compliance.
Why It Matters
The core goal is to identify every location where Protected Health Information is stored within your Google Cloud Platform environment, so you can remediate unintended exposures before they become breaches. Scanning for PHI in GCP is a priority for organizations subject to HIPAA, as it helps you prove you've discovered and accounted for all sensitive healthcare assets—mitigating the risk of data exposure and ensuring patient privacy protection.
A thorough scan delivers immediate visibility, laying the foundation for automated policy enforcement and ongoing compliance.
Prerequisites
Permissions & Roles
- GCP project owner or security admin
- BigQuery Data Viewer, Storage Object Viewer
- DLP API Admin for Cloud Data Loss Prevention
External Tools
- Google Cloud CLI (gcloud)
- Cyera DSPM account
- Service account credentials
Prior Setup
- GCP project with billing enabled
- Healthcare API and DLP API enabled
- Service account authenticated
- VPC and firewall rules configured
Introducing Cyera
Cyera is a modern Data Security Posture Management (DSPM) platform that discovers, classifies, and continuously monitors your sensitive data across cloud services. By leveraging advanced AI and Natural Language Processing (NER) models, Cyera automatically identifies PHI patterns in unstructured healthcare data across GCP services like BigQuery, Cloud Storage, and Healthcare API datastores, ensuring you stay ahead of accidental exposures and meet HIPAA audit requirements in real time.
Step-by-Step Guide
Enable necessary APIs (Healthcare API, DLP API, BigQuery API) and create a service account with the minimum required privileges for PHI detection.
In the Cyera portal, navigate to Integrations → DSPM → Add new. Select Google Cloud Platform, provide your project ID and service account details, then define the scan scope across BigQuery datasets, Cloud Storage buckets, and Healthcare API stores.
Configure webhooks or streaming exports to push scan results into your SIEM or Security Command Center. Link findings to existing ticketing systems like Jira or ServiceNow for remediation workflows.
Review the initial detection report, prioritize datasets with large volumes of PHI, and adjust detection rules to reduce false positives. Schedule recurring scans to maintain visibility and compliance posture.
Architecture & Workflow
GCP Data Sources
BigQuery, Cloud Storage, Healthcare API
Cyera Connector
Pulls metadata and samples data for classification
Cyera AI Engine
Applies NER models and PHI detection patterns
Reporting & Remediation
Dashboards, alerts, and compliance reports
Data Flow Summary
Best Practices & Tips
Performance Considerations
- Start with incremental or scoped scans
- Use sampling for very large BigQuery tables
- Tune sample rates for speed vs coverage
Tuning Detection Rules
- Maintain allowlists for synthetic test data
- Adjust confidence thresholds for PHI patterns
- Match rules to your risk tolerance and HIPAA requirements
Common Pitfalls
- Forgetting FHIR stores in Healthcare API
- Over-scanning temporary or development datasets
- Neglecting to rotate service account keys