Preserve linkage with stable redaction placeholders

These examples and illustrative results are independently authored teaching materials, not measured model results.

Use case

One private account repeats across report/trace, while distinct accounts may collapse into REDACTED and lose linkage. Teaching substitutions operate on export copies only.

Mechanism

Use policy-approved structural mappings: same identity across files, distinct identities separated. Preserve safe line/event markers and resolve redacted-key collisions with opaque IDs/stable suffixes. Redact before encoding/truncation. Keep original maps out of export/logs; log placeholder/category/count only. Recount final non-log files and inspect evidence usefulness.

Bad example

Use ACCOUNT-1 and REDACTED for one account, collapse all path keys and ship the original map.

Good example

Use ORG-1 consistently and ORG-2 for another. Preserve safe markers, suffix colliding keys and redact before serialization/truncation. Logs contain placeholders/counts only; record evidence limitations.

Why the change matters

Stable substitutions preserve relationships and distinct observations. Structural preprocessing avoids truncation leaks/key loss; excluded maps reduce reidentification.

Observable expectation

Teaching same-identity labels match and distinct labels differ. Colliding keys retain both entries, counts match final files and no original map ships. Mark redactions inside quotes rather than implying original wording.

Limits

Markers/placeholders can still identify indirectly under real policies. Stable mappings may be export-local, not permission for cross-dataset tracking. Disclose lost support rather than retaining secrets.