By default, Kombo syncs all available data from connected systems. This can be pretty convenient for exploring what’s available during development, but as soon as you take Kombo into production, you’ll likely want to restrict what data is extracted and stored for privacy and security reasons.

For this purpose, Kombo provides what we call “Scopes.” These allow you to configure precisely which models and data points are being extracted and stored. Scopes can, for example, be used to anonymize data by removing all personal identifiable information from the data we store.

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Configuring scopes

To get started configuring scopes, log into the Kombo Dashboard and open the “Scope Config” page. It should look something like this:

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Configure scope config

When editing your scope configs or creating a new one, a page similar to this one will open:

All of Kombo’s Data Models are listed here, and you can disable, enable or mark an entire Data Model as optional. We do not sync data from disabled data models. Optional Data Models aren’t synced if your customer opts out of having the field exposed. Enabled models are always synced.

We recommend turning all Data Models off that you are not interested in. For example, if you want to sync employee, employment and organization data but are not interested in absences, turning off the absence type, absences and time off balance Data Models is recommended. This will simplify the setup for your customer, improve sync times, and not expose any data that does not need to be exposed.

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Configuring fields

If you only want to turn off individual model fields, you can expand each model in the edit page. You will now see all the fields it supports:

For example, if you don’t want to sync sensitive data like SSNs or Tax IDs, you can turn them off here. Similarly, if you would like to read personal identifiable information but it is not required for your use-case, consider marking the field as optional. This will give your customers the choice of whether they want to expose it or not.

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Building trust with your customers

Some of the systems we help you integrate contain very sensitive data (like personal addresses or tax IDs of employees). That’s why communicating which data points you access and which you don’t is critical to building trust and eradicating concerns during the sales process.

To help you with this, we’re exposing your scope config to the end user as part of our connection flow:

This way, your customers can see exactly which data points you’re accessing.