bitwise AND operator (&) to determine if a specific one (1) or a zero (0) is present Masks are used to select some bits using ones (1s) A one (1) returns a one (1), if the other bit is one (1) A one (1) returns a zero (0), if the other bit is zero (0) Or hide other bits using zeros (0s) A zero (0) always returns a zero (0), if other bit is 0 or 1