Email Notifications - Data Redaction Patterns Fail to Match in Initial Inbound Email Due to HTML Encoded Spaces - Support and Troubleshooting

Email Notifications - Data Redaction Patterns Fail to Match in Initial Inbound Email Due to HTML Encoded Spaces Issue .ns-kb-css-body-editor-container { p { font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lato; color: var(--now-color--text-primary, #000000); } span { font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lato; color: var(--now-color--text-primary, #000000); } h2 { font-size: 24pt; font-family: Lato; color: var(--now-color--text-primary, black); } h3 { font-size: 18pt; font-family: Lato; color: var(--now-color--text-primary, black); } h4 { font-size: 14pt; font-family: Lato; color: var(--now-color--text-primary, black); } a { font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lato; color: var(--now-color--link-primary, #00718F); } a:hover { font-size: 12pt; color: var(--now-color--link-primary, #024F69); } a:target { font-size: 12pt; color: var(--now-color--link-primary, #032D42); } a:visited { font-size: 12pt; color: var(--now-color--link-primary, #00718f); } ul { font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lato; } li { font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lato; } img { display: ; max-width: ; width: ; height: ; } } Custom data redaction patterns fail to redact sensitive data in initial inbound email but successfully redact the same data during inbound action processing.

Symptoms .ns-kb-css-body-editor-container { p { font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lato; color: var(--now-color--text-primary, #000000); } span { font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lato; color: var(--now-color--text-primary, #000000); } h2 { font-size: 24pt; font-family: Lato; color: var(--now-color--text-primary, black); } h3 { font-size: 18pt; font-family: Lato; color: var(--now-color--text-primary, black); } h4 { font-size: 14pt; font-family: Lato; color: var(--now-color--text-primary, black); } a { font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lato; color: var(--now-color--link-primary, #00718F); } a:hover { font-size: 12pt; color: var(--now-color--link-primary, #024F69); } a:target { font-size: 12pt; color: var(--now-color--link-primary, #032D42); } a:visited { font-size: 12pt; color: var(--now-color--link-primary, #00718f); } ul { font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lato; } li { font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lato; } img { display: ; max-width: ; width: ; height: ; } } Sensitive data visible in initial inbound email body field (HTML) Same sensitive data successfully redacted in body_text field (plain text) Redaction works correctly during inbound action processing Redaction works correctly in incident comments created from email Custom regex pattern successfully identifies data when tested manually Pattern matching fails only for initial HTML email content Some patterns match successfully while others fail in same email Redaction engine log shows "Email record redacted" but not all patterns applied Facts .ns-kb-css-body-editor-container { p { font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lato; color: var(--now-color--text-primary, #000000); } span { font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lato; color: var(--now-color--text-primary, #000000); } h2 { font-size: 24pt; font-family: Lato; color: var(--now-color--text-primary, black); } h3 { font-size: 18pt; font-family: Lato; color: var(--now-color--text-primary, black); } h4 { font-size: 14pt; font-family: Lato; color: var(--now-color--text-primary, black); } a { font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lato; color: var(--now-color--link-primary, #00718F); } a:hover { font-size: 12pt; color: var(--now-color--link-primary, #024F69); } a:target { font-size: 12pt; color: var(--now-color--link-primary, #032D42); } a:visited { font-size: 12pt; color: var(--now-color--link-primary, #00718f); } ul { font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lato; } li { font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lato; } img { display: ; max-width: ; width: ; height: ; } } Email redaction processes body field (HTML) for initial inbound emails Inbound action processing converts email to body_text field (plain text) HTML email bodies may contain (non-breaking space) entities is HTML entity for non-breaking space (Unicode U+00A0) Regex patterns using standard space character do not match Plain text conversion normalizes to regular space character Email clients and HTML editors automatically insert in formatted content Redaction engine processes email fields without modifying content Custom data patterns use regex for pattern matching Standard space character in regex: \s or literal space Non-breaking space Unicode character: \u00A0 Release .ns-kb-css-body-editor-container { p { font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lato; color: var(--now-color--text-primary, #000000); } span { font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lato; color: var(--now-color--text-primary, #000000); } h2 { font-size: 24pt; font-family: Lato; color: var(--now-color--text-primary, black); } h3 { font-size: 18pt; font-family: Lato; color: var(--now-color--text-primary, black); } h4 { font-size: 14pt; font-family: Lato; color: var(--now-color--text-primary, black); } a { font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lato; color: var(--now-color--link-primary, #00718F); } a:hover { font-size: 12pt; color: var(--now-color--link-primary, #024F69); } a:target { font-size: 12pt; color: var(--now-color--link-primary, #032D42); } a:visited { font-size: 12pt; color: var(--now-color--link-primary, #00718f); } ul { font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lato; } li { font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lato; } img { display: ; max-width: ; width: ; height: ; } } All

Cause .ns-kb-css-body-editor-container { p { font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lato; color: var(--now-color--text-primary, #000000); } span { font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lato; color: var(--now-color--text-primary, #000000); } h2 { font-size: 24pt; font-family: Lato; color: var(--now-color--text-primary, black); } h3 { font-size: 18pt; font-family: Lato; color: var(--now-color--text-primary, black); } h4 { font-size: 14pt; font-family: Lato; color: var(--now-color--text-primary, black); } a { font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lato; color: var(--now-color--link-primary, #00718F); } a:hover { font-size: 12pt; color: var(--now-color--link-primary, #024F69); } a:target { font-size: 12pt; color: var(--now-color--link-primary, #032D42); } a:visited { font-size: 12pt; color: var(--now-color--link-primary, #00718f); } ul { font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lato; } li { font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lato; } img { display: ; max-width: ; width: ; height: ; } } The redaction engine processes initial inbound emails using the HTML body field, which contains HTML-encoded entities including (non-breaking space). Custom regex patterns that use standard space characters or \s for matching do not recognize as a space, causing pattern matching to fail. During inbound action processing, the email content is converted to plain text in the body_text field, where entities are normalized to regular space characters. This normalization allows the same regex pattern to match successfully, explaining why redaction works during inbound actions but not for the initial email HTML body.

Resolution .ns-kb-css-body-editor-container { p { font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lato; color: var(--now-color--text-primary, #000000); } span { font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lato; color: var(--now-color--text-primary, #000000); } h2 { font-size: 24pt; font-family: Lato; color: var(--now-color--text-primary, black); } h3 { font-size: 18pt; font-family: Lato; color: var(--now-color--text-primary, black); } h4 { font-size: 14pt; font-family: Lato; color: var(--now-color--text-primary, black); } a { font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lato; color: var(--now-color--link-primary, #00718F); } a:hover { font-size: 12pt; color: var(--now-color--link-primary, #024F69); } a:target { font-size: 12pt; color: var(--now-color--link-primary, #032D42); } a:visited { font-size: 12pt; color: var(--now-color--link-primary, #00718f); } ul { font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lato; } li { font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lato; } img { display: ; max-width: ; width: ; height: ; } } Solution - Update Regex Pattern to Match Non-Breaking Spaces:

Modify custom data redaction patterns to include both regular spaces and non-breaking spaces:

Navigate to System Security > Data Patterns Open the affected custom data pattern record Locate the Pattern field containing the regex expression Replace standard space characters with [\s\u00A0] to match both regular and non-breaking spaces Before (Standard Space): regex My birthday is (\w+ \d{1,2}, \d{4}) After (Includes Non-Breaking Space):

regex My[\s\u00A0]birthday[\s\u00A0]is[\s\u00A0](\w+[\s\u00A0]\d{1,2},[\s\u00A0]\d{4}) Click Update to save the pattern Test the pattern using Test Pattern button Send test email to verify redaction works in initial email Example 1 - Date of Birth Pattern:

regex # Before - standard space only My DOB is (\d{1,2}/\d{1,2}/\d{2,4}) # After - includes non-breaking space My[\s\u00A0]DOB[\s\u00A0]is[\s\u00A0](\d{1,2}/\d{1,2}/\d{2,4}) Example 2 - SSN Pattern:

regex # Before - standard space only SSN is (\d{3}-\d{2}-\d{4}) # After - includes non-breaking space SSN[\s\u00A0]is[\s\u00A0](\d{3}-\d{2}-\d{4}) Example 3 - Multiple Word Pattern:

regex # Before - standard space only social security number is (\d{3}-\d{2}-\d{4}) # After - includes non-breaking space social[\s\u00A0]security[\s\u00A0]number[\s\u00A0]is[\s\u00A0](\d{3}-\d{2}-\d{4}) Explanation of Pattern Components:

\s - Matches any whitespace character (space, tab, newline) \u00A0 - Matches non-breaking space (Unicode U+00A0) [\s\u00A0] - Matches either regular whitespace OR non-breaking space Replace every space in pattern with [\s\u00A0] for HTML compatibility Important Notes:

is HTML entity for non-breaking space (Unicode U+00A0) Regex \s does not match by default [\s\u00A0] matches both regular spaces and non-breaking spaces Update all space characters in custom patterns, not just some Test patterns in both HTML and plain text contexts This is working as designed, not a product defect No system property available to change HTML processing behavior Verification Steps:

Update custom data pattern with [\s\u00A0] syntax Send test email containing sensitive data with pattern Check initial inbound email body field for redaction Verify sensitive data is redacted in HTML email preview Confirm redaction also works in body_text field Test with multiple email clients to verify consistent behavior Best Practice:

Always use [\s\u00A0] in place of spaces for email redaction patterns Test custom patterns with HTML-formatted email content Include both regular spaces and non-breaking spaces in all patterns Test patterns using Test Pattern button before deployment Send test emails from multiple email clients Document pattern syntax for team reference Review all existing custom patterns for space character usage Related Links .ns-kb-css-body-editor-container { p { font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lato; color: var(--now-color--text-primary, #000000); } span { font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lato; color: var(--now-color--text-primary, #000000); } h2 { font-size: 24pt; font-family: Lato; color: var(--now-color--text-primary, black); } h3 { font-size: 18pt; font-family: Lato; color: var(--now-color--text-primary, black); } h4 { font-size: 14pt; font-family: Lato; color: var(--now-color--text-primary, black); } a { font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lato; color: var(--now-color--link-primary, #00718F); } a:hover { font-size: 12pt; color: var(--now-color--link-primary, #024F69); } a:target { font-size: 12pt; color: var(--now-color--link-primary, #032D42); } a:visited { font-size: 12pt; color: var(--now-color--link-primary, #00718f); } ul { font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lato; } li { font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lato; } img { display: ; max-width: ; width: ; height: ; } } Data Redaction for Emails Documentation