Example: Django User Model

Example: Django User Model#

Complete example of anonymizing Django’s built-in User model.

Setup#

1. Load the Django Auth preset:

python manage.py anon_load_yaml django_auth

2. Apply anonymization rules:

python manage.py anon_apply

3. Configure user groups:

# settings.py
POSTGRES_ANON = {
    'ENABLED': True,
    'MASKED_GROUPS': ['analysts', 'qa_team'],
}

What Gets Anonymized#

The django_auth preset anonymizes:

  • Email: john@example.com → Fake email (e.g., alice.smith@example.com)

  • First Name: John → Fake first name (e.g., Alice)

  • Last Name: Doe → Fake last name (e.g., Smith)

  • Username: Not anonymized by default (disabled to preserve login functionality)

Usage Examples#

Middleware (Automatic):

# Any user in 'analysts' group sees anonymized data automatically
def user_list(request):
    users = User.objects.all()  # Anonymized for analysts
    return render(request, 'users.html', {'users': users})

Context Manager (Manual):

from django_postgres_anon.context_managers import anonymized_data

def export_users(request):
    with anonymized_data():
        users = User.objects.all()
        return export_to_csv(users)  # Anonymized data exported

Decorator (View-Level):

from django_postgres_anon.decorators import use_anonymized_data

@use_anonymized_data
def analytics_api(request):
    return JsonResponse({
        'users': list(User.objects.values('username', 'email', 'date_joined'))
    })

Custom Rules#

Add custom anonymization beyond the preset:

from django_postgres_anon.models import MaskingRule

# Anonymize additional User field
MaskingRule.objects.create(
    table_name='auth_user',
    column_name='date_joined',
    function_expr='anon.random_date_between(\'2020-01-01\'::date, \'2024-01-01\'::date)',
    enabled=True
)

# Or anonymize related profile
MaskingRule.objects.create(
    table_name='user_profile',
    column_name='phone_number',
    function_expr='anon.fake_phone()',
    enabled=True
)

Verification#

Test that anonymization works:

from django_postgres_anon.context_managers import anonymized_data
from django.contrib.auth.models import User

# Real data
user = User.objects.first()
print(user.email)  # john@example.com

# Anonymized data
with anonymized_data():
    user = User.objects.first()
    print(user.email)  # user_12345@anonymizer.com

See Also#

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