NETL has launched a Geospatial and Information Substitution and Anonymization (GISA) Tool that provides users with access to detailed data while protecting sensitive information, balancing data accessibility with privacy concerns.

According to the Corporate Finance Institute, a leading banking and finance training provider, “data anonymization refers to the method of preserving private or confidential information by deleting or encoding identifiers that link individuals to the stored data. It is done to protect the private activity of an individual or a corporation while preserving the credibility of the data collected and exchanged.”

Anonymization is important to energy researchers across the United States because many datasets shared between partners and DOE contain sensitive information that may prevent or delay data from becoming public or shared with other entities.

The GISA Tool offers multiple solutions for spatial, text-based, and tabular data. Building on previous work, the tool enables the anonymization of a subset of information within a dataset while preserving important variables, which can still facilitate meaningful analysis and research without exposing sensitive information. 

Key features of the GISA Tool include the ability to generalize and relocate point data, batch remove or replace terms within file names, batch remove or replace terms from various file type content and identify and redact terms and images within PDF documents. 

The tool is now available on the Energy Data eXchange (EDX) and EDX® disCO₂ver.

EDX is the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management’s virtual platform for public curation of energy research data. EDX was developed and is maintained by NETL researchers and technical computing teams to support private collaboration for ongoing research efforts and commercialization of finalized DOE/NETL research products.

By allowing users to publish data within EDX and EDX disCO₂ver without compromising sensitive information, the GISA Tool promotes open data sharing practices. This tool highlights NETL’s commitment to addressing the nation’s energy, economic, and environmental challenges, with a focus on building a sustainable future for all Americans.

NETL is a U.S. Department of Energy national laboratory that drives innovation and delivers solutions for an environmentally sustainable and prosperous energy future. By using its world-class talent and research facilities, NETL is ensuring affordable, abundant and reliable energy that drives a robust economy and national security, while developing technologies to manage carbon across the full life cycle, enabling environmental sustainability for all Americans.