Professional license number

Identifies documents containing references to professional license number in Australian contexts. This information type is classified as personally identifiable information under the Privacy Act 1988.

Type: regex
Engine: boost_regex
Confidence: medium
Confidence justification: identifier/document-structure anchored regex with constrained context replaces phrase-only detection. Added context gating and exclusion rules improve precision and reduce incidental matches.
Detection quality: Topic false positive
Jurisdictions: global
Regulations: AML/CTF Act (Cth), IPA 2009 (Qld), NDB Scheme (Cth), Privacy Act 1988 (Cth), GDPR
Frameworks: ISO 27001, ISO 27701
Data categories: government-id, pii
Scope: wide
Risk rating: 5
Platform compatibility: Purview: Compatible, GCP DLP: Compatible, Macie: Compatible, Zscaler: Compatible, Palo Alto: Degraded, Netskope: Unsupported

Pattern

(?i)\b(?:professional\s+licen[cs]e\s+numbers?|practitioner\s+registration\s+numbers?|accreditation\s+numbers?|board\s+registration\s+numbers?|trade\s+licen[cs]e\s+numbers?|occupational\s+licen[cs]e\s+numbers?)\b

Corroborative evidence keywords

professional license number, professional, license, number, government, ids, civil, status, drivers licence, driver licence, drivers license, driver license, [object Object], licence number, license number, file number, reference number, case number, record number, account number (+19 more)

Proximity: 300 characters

Should match

Professional license number — Topic phrase present
professional license number — Topic phrase, lowercase
this record references the professional license number held on file — Topic phrase within surrounding text
AHPRA practitioner registration number is recorded. — Specific regulator and practitioner label align (authored phrase variant)
Onboarding form asks for professional licence number. — AU licence spelling — phrase references are valid concept hits

Should not match

unrelated generic text — No relevant phrase context
placeholder value 12345 — Random text should not match phrase marker
generic narrative without identifier/document anchors — Should not match plain mention
template example placeholder record identifier — Template/sample context should be excluded even when anchor words are present
Vehicle registration number is 123ABC. — Unrelated registration must not classify — generic registration number is not a primary
Medical board meeting minutes. — Regulator topic without number language is insufficient

Known false positives

Common words and phrases related to professional license number appearing in policy documents, training materials, HR templates, or compliance guidelines without actual personal data. Mitigation: Require corroborative evidence keywords within the proximity window to confirm sensitive data context rather than general discussion.
In Australian English, similar terminology used in formal or administrative contexts (education, professional documentation) that does not constitute sensitive data collection. Mitigation: Layer with additional contextual signals such as structured identifiers, form fields, or database column headers to distinguish sensitive records from general references.
High-frequency pattern matches in large document corpora due to broad regex anchors. Expected match rate is significantly higher than specific identifier patterns. Mitigation: Tune confidence thresholds for bulk scanning. Consider using this pattern primarily as a pre-filter with secondary validation.

References

https://www.passports.gov.au/apply-or-renew
https://www.ato.gov.au/individuals-and-families/tax-file-number
https://www.abr.business.gov.au/FAQ/ABNBasics
https://immi.homeaffairs.gov.au/visas/already-have-a-visa/check-visa-details-and-conditions/overview
https://www.servicesaustralia.gov.au/how-to-prove-your-identity-with-centrelink
https://www.aec.gov.au/enrol/
https://www.nsw.gov.au/family-and-relationships/births/birth-certificates
https://www.afp.gov.au/our-services/national-police-checks