LEARN. PRACTICE. GROW.Concept and mechanism
Instrumentation should collect the data needed to answer concrete operational questions. Capturing all headers, payloads, and parameters increases volume and can expose sensitive information. Define approved attributes and reduce information at the source; apply removal or redaction at appropriate pipeline points. Hashing a predictable identifier does not guarantee anonymization because it may allow linkage or systematic guessing. Data protection and cardinality are related but distinct problems: a transformed value can remain sensitive and create as many series as before. Also validate units and conventions in the destination system. Prometheus naming recommendations should not automatically be imposed on OpenTelemetry semantic conventions.
Guided application
Baggage carries key-value pairs with context and can cross external boundaries. It has no inherent integrity guarantees and should not determine authorization. It also does not automatically become a span attribute without instrumentation that copies it. Define propagation boundaries. Observe the pipeline itself: the Collector exposes reception, refusal, queue, and send-failure indicators whose names depend on version. If dashboards become empty while the service receives requests, inspect these signals and the export destination. A continuously growing queue indicates imbalance rather than proving every record will be delivered. Plan capacity, volume reduction, and failure behavior. Keep access and retention consistent with the approved operational purpose.
A baggage header received from the client is not evidence of administrative authorization.
Common pitfalls
Collecting everything; hash as guaranteed anonymization; baggage as authorization; invisible pipeline.
Related topics: Signals and service outcomes · Metrics and queries · Traces and context
Instrument collection itself and control what can cross each boundary.
Reference: Sensitive telemetry minimization and redaction · Observability 2026-09; selected OpenTelemetry, Prometheus and Dynatrace Classic concepts