diff --git a/src/Explorer/Controls/Settings/SettingsComponent.tsx b/src/Explorer/Controls/Settings/SettingsComponent.tsx
index 1185d190c..861980629 100644
--- a/src/Explorer/Controls/Settings/SettingsComponent.tsx
+++ b/src/Explorer/Controls/Settings/SettingsComponent.tsx
@@ -842,7 +842,7 @@ export class SettingsComponent extends React.Component<SettingsComponentProps, S
     const dataMaskingContent: DataModels.DataMaskingPolicy = {
       includedPaths: this.collection.dataMaskingPolicy?.()?.includedPaths || [],
       excludedPaths: this.collection.dataMaskingPolicy?.()?.excludedPaths || [],
-      isPolicyEnabled: this.collection.dataMaskingPolicy?.()?.isPolicyEnabled || false,
+      isPolicyEnabled: this.collection.dataMaskingPolicy?.()?.isPolicyEnabled ?? true,
     };
     const conflictResolutionPolicy: DataModels.ConflictResolutionPolicy =
       this.collection.conflictResolutionPolicy && this.collection.conflictResolutionPolicy();
@@ -1072,7 +1072,11 @@ export class SettingsComponent extends React.Component<SettingsComponentProps, S
       newCollection.vectorEmbeddingPolicy = this.state.vectorEmbeddingPolicy;
 
       newCollection.fullTextPolicy = this.state.fullTextPolicy;
-      newCollection.dataMaskingPolicy = this.state.dataMaskingContent;
+
+      // Only send data masking policy if it was modified (dirty)
+      if (this.state.isDataMaskingDirty && isCapabilityEnabled(Constants.CapabilityNames.EnableDynamicDataMasking)) {
+        newCollection.dataMaskingPolicy = this.state.dataMaskingContent;
+      }
 
       newCollection.indexingPolicy = this.state.indexingPolicyContent;
 
diff --git a/src/Explorer/Controls/Settings/SettingsSubComponents/DataMaskingComponent.tsx b/src/Explorer/Controls/Settings/SettingsSubComponents/DataMaskingComponent.tsx
index 2f35c572e..80314fe7c 100644
--- a/src/Explorer/Controls/Settings/SettingsSubComponents/DataMaskingComponent.tsx
+++ b/src/Explorer/Controls/Settings/SettingsSubComponents/DataMaskingComponent.tsx
@@ -33,7 +33,7 @@ const emptyDataMaskingPolicy: DataModels.DataMaskingPolicy = {
     },
   ],
   excludedPaths: [],
-  isPolicyEnabled: false,
+  isPolicyEnabled: true,
 };
 
 export class DataMaskingComponent extends React.Component<DataMaskingComponentProps, DataMaskingComponentState> {
diff --git a/src/Explorer/Tree/Collection.ts b/src/Explorer/Tree/Collection.ts
index d6df438bf..e4382de53 100644
--- a/src/Explorer/Tree/Collection.ts
+++ b/src/Explorer/Tree/Collection.ts
@@ -141,7 +141,7 @@ export default class Collection implements ViewModels.Collection {
     const defaultDataMaskingPolicy: DataModels.DataMaskingPolicy = {
       includedPaths: Array<{ path: string; strategy: string; startPosition: number; length: number }>(),
       excludedPaths: Array<string>(),
-      isPolicyEnabled: false,
+      isPolicyEnabled: true,
     };
     const observablePolicy = ko.observable(data.dataMaskingPolicy || defaultDataMaskingPolicy);
     observablePolicy.subscribe(() => {});