Update

Goal

The update Work Tasks lets you write rules that anonymizes existing values in table columns by replacing them.

• It is a great tool for creating anonymized datasets for testing and development environments, based upon production data
• Target only the relevant table columns that need anonymization
• Integrate update Work Tasks as part of your database copy process from production to development.
  • First copy, then update

Warning

• Never under any circumstances perform update Work Tasks against a production database. Data will be lost.

Identifying data that needs anonymization

You will primarily anonymize Personally Identifiable Data and Linkable Data. In addition, you may need to anonymize business critical data.

Personally Identifiable Information Examples

• Names: first, middle and lastname, usernames, aliases
• Addresses: home address, email address, IP address
• Phone numbers: mobile numbers, fixed numbers
• Personal identification numbers: passport number, driver’s license, credit/debit card, taxpayer ID number, patient ID number
• Biometric data: photos, x-rays, fingerprints, retina scans, voice signatures

Quasi Identifier Examples

• Date of birth
• Race
• Gender
• Business telephone number
• Place of birth
• Religion
• Educational information
• Event based information

Work Task update in Ano

In update Work Tasks, you can use any of the mask, randomize or the shuffle rule strategies.

Visit the rules section for more information on how to write update task rules.

Structure

task <TaskGroupName>
{
    update <table> <WorkTaskName>
        mask <column> <RuleName>
            <rule-logic>
        randomize <column> <RuleName>
            <rule-logic>
        shuffle <column> <RuleName>
            <rule-logic>
}

Update Address Example

table Address
    column integer addressNo
    column text homeAddress
        size 50
    column text postalCode
        size 10
    column datetime created
    primary-key addressNo

// - - - - Tasks and Rules - - - - //

task updateAdressTasks
{
    update Address UpdateAddressFields
        mask homeAddress UpdateAddressUsingFile
            format %s
            file src/main/resources/addresses.txt random-order

        mask postalCode UpdateToRandomPostalCodeAsString
            format "%d"
            //transform PostCodeGeneralization
            random-integer 1000 9999

        shuffle created
}