An exploratory assessment of the effectiveness of geomasking methods on privacy protection and analytical accuracy for individual-level geospatial data

The widespread use of personal geospatial data raises serious geoprivacy concerns for sharing these data, which may limit the reproducibility of research findings. One widely used method for securely sharing confidential geospatial information is applying geomasking techniques before sharing. Geomasking may reduce the usability of the data. Thus, researchers need to strike a balance between privacy protection and analytical accuracy. Although many geomasking methods have been proposed, there is no systematic evaluation of these methods or guidance on which method to use and how to apply it properly. To address this gap, we evaluate eight geomasking methods with simulated geospatial data with various spatial patterns and investigate their performance on privacy protection and analytical accuracy. We propose not only a set of preliminary guidelines for applying the proper geomasking methods when using different spatial analysis methods but also an evaluation framework for assessing geomasking methods for other spatial analysis methods. The findings will help researchers to properly apply geomasking for sensitive geospatial data and thus promote data sharing and interdisciplinary collaboration while protecting personal geoprivacy.