This PCA practice question tests your understanding of designing for security and compliance. Read the scenario carefully and evaluate each option against the stated constraints before committing to an answer. After answering, compare your reasoning against the explanation and wrong-answer breakdown below. Once you have made your selection, read the full explanation to reinforce the concept and understand why each distractor is designed to mislead on exam day.
A data engineer needs to automatically detect and redact sensitive data such as credit card numbers from text files uploaded to Cloud Storage before the data is loaded into BigQuery. Which GCP service should be used?
Cloud Data Loss Prevention (DLP) API
DLP provides inspection and de-identification of sensitive data.
Cloud KMS
Why wrong: KMS manages encryption keys, not data classification.
Cloud Audit Logs
Why wrong: Audit logs are for tracking access, not for redacting data.
Cloud Vision API
Why wrong: Vision API processes images, not text files.
Answer choices
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
Cloud Data Loss Prevention (DLP) API
Cloud Data Loss Prevention (DLP) API can inspect text for sensitive patterns and de-identify (redact, mask, etc.) the content. It can be triggered via Cloud Functions or Cloud Workflows on file upload.
Key principle: Count usable hosts — not total addresses — and remember that the network and broadcast addresses are not available to hosts in standard IPv4 subnets.
Answer analysis
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
Cloud Data Loss Prevention (DLP) API
Why this is correct
DLP provides inspection and de-identification of sensitive data.
Related concept
CIDR notation defines the prefix length.
Cloud KMS
Why it's wrong here
KMS manages encryption keys, not data classification.
Cloud Audit Logs
Why it's wrong here
Audit logs are for tracking access, not for redacting data.
Cloud Vision API
Why it's wrong here
Vision API processes images, not text files.
Common exam traps
Subnetting questions often tempt you into counting all addresses. In normal IPv4 subnets, the network and broadcast addresses are not usable host addresses.
Detailed technical explanation
Subnetting questions test whether you can identify the network, broadcast address, usable range, mask and correct subnet. Slow down enough to calculate the block size correctly.
Key takeaway
Count usable hosts — not total addresses — and remember that the network and broadcast addresses are not available to hosts in standard IPv4 subnets.
Real-world example
A media company stores terabytes of video archives that are accessed once a year for audit purposes. Moving these objects to a cold storage tier (Azure Archive, S3 Glacier, or Google Nearline) costs a fraction of hot storage. Questions like this test whether you understand storage tiers, access frequency tradeoffs, and retrieval latency requirements.
What to study next
Review block sizes, usable host formulas (2^n − 2), and how to find network and broadcast addresses for /24 through /30. Then practise related PCA subnetting questions on CIDR, address ranges, and subnet selection.
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FAQ
Designing for Security and Compliance — This question tests Designing for Security and Compliance — CIDR notation defines the prefix length..
The correct answer is: Cloud Data Loss Prevention (DLP) API — Cloud Data Loss Prevention (DLP) API can inspect text for sensitive patterns and de-identify (redact, mask, etc.) the content. It can be triggered via Cloud Functions or Cloud Workflows on file upload.
Review block sizes, usable host formulas (2^n − 2), and how to find network and broadcast addresses for /24 through /30. Then practise related PCA subnetting questions on CIDR, address ranges, and subnet selection.
CIDR notation defines the prefix length.
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Last reviewed: Jul 4, 2026
This PCA practice question is part of Courseiva's free Google Cloud certification practice question bank. Courseiva provides original exam-style practice questions with explanations, topic-based practice, mock exams, readiness tracking, and study analytics to help learners prepare for the PCA exam.
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