How to obscure point data

AhnaMiller2

I have a point data layer in AGOL that was created from an excel file. I am wondering if there is a way to effectively obscure the exact locations of the points for the privacy of the data? Are there any tools in AGOL or desktop that would allow us to 1.) keep each individual point in the data set (so aggregation is not an obscuration option) and 2.) obscure the exact location by generalizing the location?

DanPatterson_Retired

In the excel file, you could add a column of random numbers  between 0 and 1, then if your coordinates are in decimal degrees, you could calculate 2 new long/lat columns with 

1/scale subrtracted from the initial values.  What I mean by 'scale' is you wouldn't want to subtract 0.8, for instance, from the values, since it would move the features too far.  try 

1/10000 or something so you are only shifting the 4th or 5th or 6th decimal place a smidge.

My preference for complete anonymity is to subtract some portion longitude from the input values so that it places the coordinates in the Atlantic Ocean at the same latitudinal band as the input data.  This preserves the interpoint spacing but messes with the actual location.

There are lots of ways to preserve the point spacing and move them to another location on Earth... and even off planet if you need to.

Of course if you want a basemap, then simply moving the points suggests that the observations are at that location... this brings in a whole new set of problems.