What process replaces sensitive data with unique identification symbols while retaining essential information?

Tokenization is the process that replaces sensitive data with unique identification symbols known as tokens, which preserve essential information about the data they represent but do not have any exploitable value. This allows the original sensitive data to be stored securely in a separate vault, while the tokens can be used in transactions or processes without revealing the underlying data.

This method is particularly useful in environments where data needs to be used for analysis or processing without exposing the actual sensitive content, thereby reducing the risk of data breaches. Tokenization is a form of data protection that helps organizations comply with regulations such as PCI DSS for payment card information, where actual card numbers are replaced with tokens during processing.

In contrast, data masking alters the data but keeps it usable for testing or development purposes; encryption transforms data into unreadable formats that can only be deciphered with a key; and hashing creates a fixed-size string from input data, which is generally irreversible. Each of these other methods serves different use cases in data protection but doesn't specifically replace sensitive data with symbols while preserving its essential value like tokenization does.