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Education-service QA — make sensitive-data access explicit and testable
Next.jsTypeScriptPostgreSQLAccess controlRegression tests
Evidence71 related tests · draft PR, not deployed
Context
An accepted lesson-report assignment led to a QA engagement. In the live-service codebase, I designed and implemented permission, access-reason and audit-log safeguards on top of an existing account-reveal feature.
Problem
Masking a value in the interface does not establish server-side permission or an audit trail. Allowed roles, access reasons, logging failures and permission revocation needed to be verified as one flow.
Decisions
Check a dedicated business permission on every request
The changes require a separate payroll-data grant and a reason for revealing one person’s details. Values remain masked by default; bulk export is outside this flow.
Return the value only after the audit record succeeds
The audit record captures who accessed the data and why without retaining the sensitive value. If logging fails, the value is withheld. Regression tests cover unauthorized roles and failure paths.
Separate implementation checks from production evidence
I implemented temporary reveal, automatic re-masking and masking on window departure. Verification covered 71 related tests, CI, an SQL rehearsal and browser flows with mocked responses. Production checks remain a post-deployment step.
What I owned
- Safeguard design
- Permission and logging patches
- Regression and browser verification
- Database rollout and production-check documentation
Actual deliverables
- Permission, reason and audit-log changes with regression tests
- Desktop/mobile verification with mocked responses and a database rollout guide
Scope and verification
71 related tests · draft PR, not deployed
As checked on 8 September 2026, the safeguard PR is draft and unmerged. A colleague implemented the original reveal feature; my contribution is the safeguards and verification. I claim no production rollout or user-impact result. Internal screens and personal data are withheld.
If you need this kind of work
Describe the thing you're currently stuck on. I'll reply by first separating what I can take on from what I can't.