Serial number traceability records

Identifies populated serial/batch/lot traceability records in Australian contexts: a labelled non-placeholder identifier together with a manufacturing, movement, parent-child, or custody relationship. Covers single-item and batch records; bare serial-number field mentions remain discovery-level context only.

Type: regex
Engine: boost_regex
Confidence: medium
Confidence justification: category-aware structural regex with anchor and context constraints 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), HRIPA (Cth), IPA 2009 (Qld), My Health Records Act 2012 (Cth), NDB Scheme (Cth), Privacy Act 1988 (Cth), TIA Act 1979 (Cth), GDPR
Frameworks: ISO 27001, ISO 27701
Data categories: pii
Scope: wide
Risk rating: 4
Platform compatibility: Purview: Compatible, GCP DLP: Compatible, Macie: Compatible, Zscaler: Compatible, Palo Alto: Degraded, Netskope: Unsupported

Pattern

(?is)\b(?:serial\s+number\s+traceability|serial\s+number|traceability\s+record|batch\s+number|lot\s+number|product\s+tracking|manufacturing\s+traceability|component\s+traceability|part\s+number|chain\s+of\s+custody)\b

Corroborative evidence keywords

serial number traceability records, serial, number, traceability, records, product, quality, safety, address, age, birthday, citizenship, city, date of birth, [object Object], email, ethnicity, fax, first name, full name (+41 more)

Proximity: 300 characters

Should match

serial number traceability — Primary topic phrase match
serial number — Case-insensitive topic phrase match
traceability record — Alternative topic phrase match
batch number — Additional topic phrase match
Serial number: SN-A94F21; assembled into parent serial P-8801; work order WO-77; manufactured on 2026-07-02. — One populated serial linked to a parent and manufacturing events — a valid single-item record without repetition

Should not match

unrelated generic text without domain phrases — No relevant topic phrases present
placeholder value 12345 — Random text should not match topic-specific regex
product failure — Generic word pair from old broad template should not match
Please enter the serial number on the warranty form. — Empty form prompt — label without a populated identifier must not enforce
The journal's serial number is printed on its cover. — Publication serial mention without a populated traceability record
Sample form: Serial No: EXAMPLE-1234; parent serial: placeholder. — Placeholder values are rejected by the value lookahead and the sample/placeholder exclusion

Known false positives

Common words and phrases related to serial number traceability records 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.