Encrypt account's tax ID but show last 4 digits in view

Certainly! To securely store a tax ID but display only the last 4 digits in your Laravel app, you have two main concerns:

1. Properly encrypting the tax ID (not hashing, since you need to retrieve and partially display it)
2. Displaying only the last 4 digits in your view

Let's walk through each step.

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1. Migration: Add the tax_id Field

Use php artisan make:migration add_tax_id_to_accounts_table and in the migration file:

public function up()
{
    Schema::table('accounts', function (Blueprint $table) {
        $table->text('tax_id')->nullable(); // Use text as encrypted strings can be long
    });
}

Run php artisan migrate.

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2. Model: Encrypt and Decrypt Automatically

You want to encrypt the tax ID when saving to the database, and decrypt it when accessing via Eloquent.

Add tax_id to the $casts property in your Account model using the built-in encrypted cast in Laravel (Laravel 9+):

protected $casts = [
    // ... your other casts ...
    'tax_id' => 'encrypted',
];

• If on Laravel <9: use get/set accessors and the encrypt()/decrypt() helpers.

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3. Model: Accessor for Last 4 Digits (Masked Version)

Add an accessor to get the masked tax ID for display:

public function getMaskedTaxIdAttribute()
{
    if (!$this->tax_id) {
        return null;
    }

    $taxId = $this->tax_id; // This will be automatically decrypted
    return str_repeat('*', max(0, strlen($taxId) - 4)) . substr($taxId, -4);
}

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4. Usage in the Controller or View

When displaying the masked tax ID in your Blade view:

Tax ID: {{ $account->masked_tax_id }}

Example output: *****1234

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5. Optional: Storing Tax ID

To set the tax ID, simply assign it as plain text, and Laravel will encrypt it:

$account->tax_id = '123456789';
$account->save();

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6. Security Note

• Don't hash the tax ID if you need to display any part of it; use encryption so you can retrieve it when needed.
• The encrypted cast stores data encrypted using your app's APP_KEY and Laravel's underlying encryption implementation.

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Summary

1. Add tax_id as a text column.
2. Use Laravel's encrypted cast on the tax_id model field.
3. Define a getMaskedTaxIdAttribute accessor.
4. Use $account->masked_tax_id in your views.

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