SANITIZE

Sanitize is a term used across several domains to describe making something clean or safe by removing contaminants, pathogens, or sensitive information. In everyday language, to sanitize often means to clean and disinfect surfaces to reduce dirt and microbes, with the nuance that cleaning removes matter, while sanitizing aims to lower microbial load to safe levels.

In public health and food safety, sanitization describes processes that reduce microorganisms to levels considered safe under applicable standards. This can involve washing or rinsing, heat treatment, or the use of chemical sanitizers. Sanitization is typically positioned between cleaning and disinfection, and it does not necessarily achieve sterility. The exact methods and effectiveness depend on the surface, material, and risk context.

In computing and information security, data sanitization refers to removing, masking, or otherwise transforming sensitive data to prevent exposure. Methods include input sanitization (removing or encoding unsafe input), output encoding to prevent injection or cross-site scripting, data masking or redaction, and secure deletion of files or records. Proper sanitization helps protect applications from attacks and preserves privacy when sharing logs, databases, or backup copies.

Common chemical sanitizers include alcohol-based hand sanitizers and chlorine or quaternary ammonium compounds for surfaces. In public infrastructure, sanitation also relates to systems for safe water supply and waste disposal, reflecting a broader public-health usage of the term. Overall, sanitization emphasizes reducing risk to maintain safety, rather than achieving complete sterility.