n8n Sub-Workflow: Redact Personal Data via Data Tables & Discord

Redact personal data automatically—without breaking your n8n workflows

This n8n sub-workflow scans incoming payloads for common personal data (like email addresses, IBANs, payment cards, phone numbers, and IPv4s), redacts what it detects using policy rules stored in n8n Data Tables, and returns both the redacted result and a clear detection report. It also writes an audit trail to a redaction_log table and can notify via Discord.

What this workflow does

• Accepts calls from other workflows via an Execute Workflow Trigger, optionally receiving payload and requested_by.
• Loads redaction settings from the redaction_policy Data Table and attaches the active policy to each incoming item.
• Scans all strings in the payload and detects:
  • Email addresses
  • IBANs (validated with mod-97)
  • Payment cards (validated with Luhn)
  • Phone numbers
  • IPv4 addresses
• Redacts using the configured mode (mask, pseudonymise, or remove) and never exposes original sensitive values in reports.
• Builds a redaction report including counts per detector and lists any “unclassified” candidates (e.g., long digit runs or possible names) without altering them.
• Writes an audit entry to the redaction_log Data Table, capturing counts, mode, requester, and payload size.
• Returns the redacted payload and report back to the calling workflow.

Use cases

• Protecting customer data when relaying events to internal tools or dashboards.
• Sanitizing logs before storing them in databases or sending them to third parties.
• Implementing consistent GDPR/PII-style redaction across multiple n8n workflows.

Technical details

• n8n nodes used: if, set, code, discord, data table, sticky note
• Relies on n8n Data Tables: redaction_policy and redaction_log
• Supports a setup/self-test path: “Set Up And Self Test (run once)”
• Includes optional Discord self-test notification