Built-in Pattern Reference

When you build your configuration file, you will specify the patterns used to replace sensitive data with similar but meaningless values. pgEdge Anonymizer includes a number of built-in anonymization patterns and can use a combination of pre-defined patterns and user-defined patterns when processing a file. Anonymizer includes over 180 built-in patterns covering common PII types, with extensive support for country-specific data formats across 19 countries:

• Australia
• Canada
• Finland
• France
• Germany
• India
• Ireland
• Italy
• Japan
• Mexico
• New Zealand
• Norway
• Pakistan
• Singapore
• South Korea
• Spain
• Sweden
• United Kingdom
• United States

Within a single anonymization run, the same input value always produces the same output value. This ensures that within your development/testing environment:

• Referential integrity is maintained.
• Related records stay linked.
• Reports and analytics remain meaningful.

For example, if john.smith@example.com is anonymized to michael.williams.e3b0c4@example.com, every occurrence of that email in your database will be replaced with the same anonymized value.

Pattern Selection Guide

Within your configuration file, choose patterns based on your data type.

Generic Patterns

Country-Specific Patterns

For data that should match a specific country's format, use the country-specific patterns. The country code prefix indicates the country:

Example: Anonymizing a UK customer database:

columns:
  - column: customers.full_name
    pattern: UK_NAME
  - column: customers.phone
    pattern: UK_PHONE
  - column: customers.address
    pattern: UK_ADDRESS
  - column: customers.postcode
    pattern: UK_POSTCODE
  - column: customers.ni_number
    pattern: UK_NI

Proper Names

PERSON_NAME

Generates realistic full names (first and last name combined).

Input/Output Examples:

Format Preservation:

• Detects comma-separated format (Last, First)
• Preserves all-uppercase input
• Preserves all-lowercase input

PERSON_FIRST_NAME

Generates first names only.

Input/Output Examples:

Format Preservation:

• Preserves all-uppercase input
• Preserves all-lowercase input

PERSON_LAST_NAME

Generates last names only.

Input/Output Examples:

Format Preservation:

• Preserves all-uppercase input
• Preserves all-lowercase input

Birthdate and Age Range

DOB

Generates dates of birth for any age (0-100 years).

Input/Output Examples:

Format Detection:

• ISO format: YYYY-MM-DD
• US format: MM/DD/YYYY
• US short: MM/DD/YY
• Long format: Month DD, YYYY

DOB_OVER_13

Generates dates of birth ensuring the person is at least 13 years old.

DOB_OVER_16

Generates dates of birth ensuring the person is at least 16 years old.

DOB_OVER_18

Generates dates of birth ensuring the person is at least 18 years old. Commonly used for adult-only services.

DOB_OVER_21

Generates dates of birth ensuring the person is at least 21 years old. Commonly used for alcohol-related services in the US.

Contact Information

EMAIL

Generates realistic email addresses using combinations of first names, last names, and common domain names. Each generated email includes a unique hash-based suffix derived from the input to ensure uniqueness even with large datasets and unique constraints.

Input/Output Examples:

Features:

• Unique suffix ensures no collisions with unique database constraints
• Same input always produces same output (deterministic)
• Multiple format variations (first.last, flast, firstl, first_last)

US_PHONE

Generates US-format phone numbers.

Input/Output Examples:

Format Preservation:

• Detects and preserves separator style (dashes, dots, spaces)
• Detects and preserves parentheses around area code
• Preserves digit-only format

UK_PHONE

Generates UK-format phone numbers with country code.

Input/Output Examples:

INTERNATIONAL_PHONE

Generates international phone numbers with country codes.

Input/Output Examples:

WORLDWIDE_PHONE

Generates generic phone numbers (digits only, most permissive).

Input/Output Examples:

ADDRESS

Generates street addresses from diverse worldwide data. This pattern randomly selects a country format (US, UK, German, Japanese, etc.) and generates an address in that country's style.

Input/Output Examples:

Generated Format:

• Randomly selects from 19 country-specific formats
• Street number, street name, city, and postal code
• Country-appropriate address structure

For country-specific addresses, use patterns like US_ADDRESS, UK_ADDRESS, DE_ADDRESS, etc.

WORLDWIDE_ADDRESS

Alias for ADDRESS. Generates street addresses from diverse worldwide data.

CITY

Generates city names from diverse worldwide data. Combines city names from all 19 supported countries.

Input/Output Examples:

Format Preservation:

• Preserves all-uppercase input
• Preserves all-lowercase input

For country-specific cities, use patterns like US_CITY, UK_CITY, DE_CITY, etc.

WORLDWIDE_CITY

Alias for CITY. Generates city names from diverse worldwide data.

Postal Codes

US_ZIP

Generates US ZIP codes in 5-digit or ZIP+4 format.

Input/Output Examples:

Format Preservation:

• Detects 5-digit vs ZIP+4 format
• Preserves hyphen separator for ZIP+4

UK_POSTCODE

Generates UK postcodes in valid format.

Input/Output Examples:

Features:

• Generates valid UK postcode patterns (A9 9AA, A99 9AA, AA9 9AA, AA99 9AA)
• Preserves space separator
• Uses valid postcode letter combinations

CA_POSTCODE

Generates Canadian postcodes in valid format.

Input/Output Examples:

Features:

• Generates valid Canadian format (A9A 9A9)
• Preserves space separator
• Uses valid postal code letters (excludes D, F, I, O, Q, U in certain positions)

WORLDWIDE_POSTCODE

Generates postcodes in various international formats. Auto-detects the input format and generates matching output.

Input/Output Examples:

Features:

• Auto-detects US, UK, or Canadian format from input
• Falls back to random format selection for ambiguous input
• Useful when postal code format varies within a column

Financial Information

CREDIT_CARD

Generates valid credit card numbers that pass Luhn checksum validation.

Input/Output Examples:

Features:

• Generates valid Luhn checksum
• Preserves card type prefix (Visa starts with 4, etc.)
• Preserves separator style (dashes, spaces, none)

CREDIT_CARD_EXPIRY

Generates credit card expiration dates (always in the future).

Input/Output Examples:

CREDIT_CARD_CVV

Generates 3 or 4 digit CVV codes.

Input/Output Examples:

Format Preservation:

• 3-digit input produces 3-digit output
• 4-digit input produces 4-digit output (Amex style)

Government Identifiers

US_SSN

Generates US Social Security Numbers in valid format.

Input/Output Examples:

Features:

• Avoids invalid SSN ranges (000, 666, 900-999 area numbers)
• Preserves separator style

UK_NI

Generates UK National Insurance numbers in valid format.

Input/Output Examples:

Format:

• Two prefix letters (excluding D, F, I, Q, U, V)
• Six digits
• One suffix letter (A, B, C, or D)

UK_NHS

Generates UK NHS numbers with valid check digit.

Input/Output Examples:

Features:

• 10 digits total
• Valid modulus 11 check digit
• Preserves space formatting

PASSPORT

Generates passport-style document numbers.

Input/Output Examples:

Format:

• 9 alphanumeric characters
• Mix of letters and numbers

Text Content

LOREMIPSUM

Generates lorem ipsum placeholder text matching the approximate length of the original content.

Input/Output Examples:

Features:

• Matches approximate word count of input
• Uses standard lorem ipsum vocabulary
• Suitable for notes, comments, and free-text fields

Network Identifiers

IPV4_ADDRESS

Generates IPv4 addresses.

Input/Output Examples:

Features:

• Generates valid IPv4 format (x.x.x.x)
• Mixes private and public-looking ranges
• Avoids reserved ranges (0.x.x.x, 127.x.x.x, multicast)

IPV6_ADDRESS

Generates IPv6 addresses.

Input/Output Examples:

Features:

• Supports full and compressed (::) formats
• Preserves uppercase/lowercase preference
• Generates valid hex groups

HOSTNAME

Generates hostnames and fully qualified domain names (FQDNs).

Input/Output Examples:

Features:

• Detects FQDN vs simple hostname
• Preserves numeric suffixes (e.g., web01 → node42)
• Uses realistic server naming conventions

Country-Specific Patterns

pgEdge Anonymizer provides extensive country-specific patterns for names, phone numbers, addresses, postal codes, and ID numbers. This allows you to generate data that matches the format and style expected for a specific country.

Country-Specific Phone Numbers

Country-Specific Postcodes

Country-Specific Addresses

Worldwide Name Generators

For data that may come from any country, use the worldwide generators:

Country-Specific Names

For each supported country, generators are available for first names, last names, full names, and cities. The pattern names follow the format {COUNTRY_CODE}_{TYPE}:

Examples:

• US_FIRST_NAME - American first names (John, Mary, Michael)
• JP_LAST_NAME - Japanese surnames (Tanaka, Suzuki, Sato)
• DE_NAME - German full names (Hans Mueller, Anna Schmidt)
• UK_CITY - UK cities with counties (London, Greater London)

Country-Specific ID Numbers