Azure PII Detection
Learn how to detect personally identifiable information (PII) in Azure environments. Follow step-by-step guidance for GDPR compliance.
Why It Matters
The core goal is to identify every location where personally identifiable information is stored within your Azure environment, so you can remediate unintended exposures before they become breaches. Scanning for PII in Azure is a priority for organizations subject to GDPR, as it helps you prove you've discovered and accounted for all personal data assets—mitigating the risk of data exposure and hefty compliance penalties.
A thorough scan delivers immediate visibility, laying the foundation for automated policy enforcement and ongoing compliance.
Prerequisites
Permissions & Roles
- Azure Global Administrator or Security Administrator
- Reader permissions on target subscriptions and resource groups
- Access to Azure SQL Database, Storage Accounts, and Synapse Analytics
External Tools
- Azure CLI or PowerShell
- Cyera DSPM account
- Service principal credentials
Prior Setup
- Azure subscriptions configured
- Network security groups configured
- Service principal authenticated
- Microsoft Purview or Defender for Cloud enabled
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 Named Entity Recognition (NER) models, Cyera automatically identifies PII patterns across Azure SQL databases, Blob storage, Data Lake, and Synapse Analytics, ensuring you stay ahead of accidental exposures and meet GDPR compliance requirements in real time.
Step-by-Step Guide
Create a service principal with appropriate read permissions across your Azure subscriptions. Grant access to SQL databases, storage accounts, and analytics workspaces.
In the Cyera portal, navigate to Integrations → DSPM → Add new. Select Azure, provide your tenant ID and service principal credentials, then define the scope including subscriptions, resource groups, and data services.
Set up PII detection rules for common patterns including names, addresses, phone numbers, email addresses, and government IDs. Enable GDPR-specific sensitive information types and adjust confidence thresholds for your environment.
Review the initial detection report, prioritize databases and storage accounts with high volumes of PII, and configure automated alerts for newly discovered sensitive data. Set up recurring scans to maintain continuous visibility.
Architecture & Workflow
Azure Resource Manager
Source of metadata for databases and storage
Cyera Connector
Pulls metadata and samples data for classification
AI/NER Engine
Applies ML models for PII pattern detection
Reporting & Alerts
Dashboards, notifications, and remediation workflows
Data Flow Summary
Best Practices & Tips
Performance Considerations
- Start with critical production subscriptions
- Use sampling for large Azure SQL databases
- Schedule scans during off-peak hours
Tuning Detection Rules
- Maintain allowlists for test environments
- Adjust NER confidence thresholds by data type
- Configure region-specific PII patterns
Common Pitfalls
- Missing blob storage outside primary regions
- Over-scanning development and staging environments
- Neglecting to rotate service principal credentials