AQuadtree: An R Package for Quadtree Anonymization of Point Data

Authors

Raymond Lagonigro, University of Vic
Ramon Oller, University of Vic
Joan Carles Martori, University of Vic

Date of this Version

12-2020

Document Type

Article

Citation

The R Journal (December 2020) 12(2); Editor: Michael J. Kane

Comments

Copyright 2020, The R Foundation. Open access material. License: CC BY 4.0 International

Abstract

The demand for precise data for analytical purposes grows rapidly among the research community and decision makers as more geographic information is being collected. Laws protecting data privacy are being enforced to prevent data disclosure. Statistical institutes and agencies need methods to preserve confidentiality while maintaining accuracy when disclosing geographic data. In this paper we present the AQuadtree package, a software intended to produce and deal with official spatial data making data privacy and accuracy compatible. The lack of specific methods in R to anonymize spatial data motivated the development of this package, providing an automatic aggregation tool to anonymize point data. We propose a methodology based on hierarchical geographic data structures to create a varying size grid adapted to local area population densities. This article gives insights and hints for implementation and usage. We hope this new tool may be helpful for statistical offices and users of official spatial data.