An application monitored by Instana is passing user passwords and credit card numbers as HTTP query parameters, and these values are appearing unredacted in captured trace spans visible to all Instana users with trace access. Which Instana configuration prevents this sensitive data from being stored and displayed in traces?

Instana supports sensitive data masking through configurable rules that match HTTP header names, query parameter keys, or body field patterns and replace their values with a redacted placeholder before the trace span is persisted to the backend. This allows traces to retain their diagnostic value — showing that a parameter was present in the request — without exposing the actual sensitive value to any user regardless of their role. Restricting roles or enabling SSO controls who can access stored trace data but does not prevent the sensitive values from being written to storage in the first place. The correct answer is 'Configure sensitive data masking rules in Instana to match specific query parameter names or value patterns and replace their content with a redaction placeholder before trace data is stored'. The incorrect options — 'Assign the Viewer role to all users with trace access so they can see span structure but not the raw parameter values', 'Disable HTTP tracing entirely for all services in the affected application perspective to eliminate query parameter capture', 'Enable SAML SSO and restrict the application perspective to authenticated corporate users, limiting who can query trace data' — are wrong because they do not align with IBM Instana's architecture or recommended practices for this scenario. Understanding this concept is essential for the Domain 7: Security/Compliance domain of the IBM Instana Observability certification.