Geo

This generator can be used to mask columns of latitude and longitude.

The Geo generator divides the globe into grids that are approximately 4.9 x 4.9 km. It then counts the number of points within each grid.

During data generation, each (latitude, longitude) pair is mapped to its grid.

• If the grid contains a sufficient number of points to preserve privacy, then the generator returns a randomly chosen point in that grid.

• If the grid does not contain enough points to preserve privacy, then the generator returns a random coordinate from the nearest grid that contains enough points.

Characteristics

Consistency	No, cannot be made consistent.
Linking	Yes, can be linked.
Differential privacy	No
Data-free	No
Allowed for primary keys	No
Allowed for unique columns	Yes
Uses format-preserving encryption (FPE)	No
Privacy ranking	3
Generator ID (for the API)	GeoGenerator

How to configure

To configure the generator:

1. From the Link To dropdown list, select the column to link to this one. You typically assign the Geo generator to both the latitude and longitude column, then link those columns.

2. From the value type dropdown, select whether this column contains a latitude value or a longitude value.

3. If Structural data encryption is enabled, then to use it for this column, toggle Use data encryption process to the on position.