Anonymizing data

[JohnMaty]

HI all,

Does anyone know a way to anonymizing  data in Alteryx?  I have unique identifiers that function as keys in my current DB.  When I publish data to Tableau server I want to be able to change these IDs so they are usable in Tableau but revertable to IDs in my DB.  Any ideas? 

[T_Willins]

Hi @JohnMaty,

Do the numbers have to be completely random or just a substitute?  If the second, add a Record ID tool and use that as the identifier in Tableau.  

[JohnMaty]

HeyT_Willins,

That crossed my mind too.  I guess I could do that and hash a translation table between them.  I guess I was just looking for something more "elegant"

John

[CharlieS]

You could also introduce a random sort before assigning the ID in cases where the sequence might not already be random. Use a Formula tool to assign a Rand() value, sort by this, then assign the RecordID and go from there. 

[JohnMaty]

I think I get it.  Let me mock up some data and see if I understand it.  Thanks!

[T_Willins]

No matter what you will need a key generated to restore the IDs, which can be an output of the first workflow.  A record id will give you a static key, while generating a random number will give you a more secure key, but is only good if the key is matched with the output from the same workflow run as the rand() function will generate a different number for a given record each time it is run.  Also, be sure to match it with a record ID as rand() can generate the same number for two records.