Note: This release is in preview. Features described here don’t become generally available until the latest general availability date that Salesforce announces for this release. Before then, and where features are noted as beta, pilot, or developer preview, we can’t guarantee general availability within any particular time frame or at all. Make your purchase decisions only on the basis of generally available products and features.

What’s the Difference Between Classic Encryption and Shield Platform Encryption?

With Shield Platform Encryption, you can encrypt a variety of widely used standard fields, along with some custom fields and many kinds of files. Shield Platform Encryption also supports person accounts, cases, search, approval processes, and other key Salesforce features. Classic encryption lets you protect only a special type of custom text field, which you create for that purpose.

Available as an add-on subscription in: Enterprise, Performance, and Unlimited Editions. Requires purchasing Salesforce Shield. Available in Developer Edition at no charge for orgs created in Summer ’15 and later.

Available in both Salesforce Classic and Lightning Experience.

Feature	Classic Encryption	Shield Platform Encryption
Pricing	Included in base user license	Additional fee applies
Encryption at Rest
Native Solution (No Hardware or Software Required)
Encryption Algorithm	128-bit Advanced Encryption Standard (AES)	256-bit Advanced Encryption Standard (AES)
HSM-based Key Derivation
Manage Encryption Keys Permission
Generate, Export, Import, and Destroy Keys
PCI-DSS L1 Compliance
Masking
Mask Types and Characters
View Encrypted Data Permission Required to Read Encrypted Field Values
Encrypted Standard Fields
Encrypted Attachments, Files, and Content
Encrypted Custom Fields	Dedicated custom field type, limited to 175 characters
Encrypt Existing Fields for Supported Custom Field Types
Search (UI, Partial Search, Lookups, Certain SOSL Queries)
API Access
Available in Workflow Rules and Workflow Field Updates
Available in Approval Process Entry Criteria and Approval Step Criteria

Beginning with Spring ’17, Shield Platform Encryption no longer masks encrypted data in the presentation layer. This may affect some users’ ability to work with encrypted data. If you have data you don’t want specific users to see, revisit their field-level security settings, record access settings, and object permissions.

Note