Datadog Sensitive Data Scanner
LeaderDatadog provides cloud-scale monitoring and security for metrics, traces and logs in one unified platform.
Est 2010|Valuation $91.4B|Raised $795.9M
MarketsData Security Platforms
Datadog provides cloud-scale monitoring and security for metrics, traces and logs in one unified platform.
Published May 16, 2026
Note: SDS-specific reviews are limited on major review platforms because SDS is a module within the broader Datadog subscription. Most public reviews discuss Datadog as an observability platform, with occasional references to SDS.
Review platforms for the vendor overall frequently note breadth of capabilities and reliability; common criticisms mention pricing and platform complexity. SDS-specific commentary is less common on these platforms than general observability feedback.
Community discussions include critiques focusing on billing transparency and account management friction, which are relevant because SDS is charged based on data scanned and is typically deployed in environments sensitive to data-volume billing.
Reported drivers of churn or avoidance include:
A vendor press release includes a testimonial from a financial institution characterizing SDS as part of its data loss prevention strategy.
Critical evaluation:
Vendor blog material describes SDS "issues" and workflows that create cases, Jira tickets, and incident declarations.
Critical evaluation:
A forum user reported that SDS prevented problems on a small number of occasions.
Critical evaluation:
A typical fit includes mid-market to enterprise engineering organizations with substantial telemetry volumes and multiple teams. Organizations are likely to adopt SDS where the expected cost of a compliance incident would exceed platform costs.
Sectors with higher regulatory sensitivity such as financial services, healthcare, and insurance are a stronger fit, given the vendor's documented HIPAA-eligible services and compliance-oriented messaging.
Get a comprehensive analysis of Datadog Sensitive Data Scanner including market position, competitive landscape, adoption trends, and peer benchmarks.
Download full report →Common selection reasons include:
Vendor-published testimonials exist but are vendor-supplied and do not include independent verification or detailed metrics in the public copy.
Datadog Sensitive Data Scanner (SDS) is a data-discovery and redaction capability within the Datadog platform that detects sensitive patterns (for example, credit cards, secrets, tokens, and personally identifiable information) in observability telemetry (logs, APM span attributes, RUM event attributes, and Datadog Events). It can classify matches for tagging and issue management and apply actions such as redact, partial redact, hash, or (for logs) mask with controlled unmask permissions. It functions as a preventive control to reduce accidental leakage of regulated data into telemetry pipelines and to support compliance programs.
Datadog documentation describes two architectural modes:
Primary vendor materials describe discovery/classification/redaction across logs, traces, RUM, and events, and document built-in and custom rules as well as redaction/hash/mask actions and sampling controls.
SDS is primarily aimed at:
Datadog presents SDS as part of its broader security and governance capabilities, linking sensitive-data findings to other Datadog security features such as cloud context and access controls.