Anonymizing Patron Data (Loans, Requests, Fees/Fines)

Owned by (OLD ACCOUNT) Erin Nettifee
Last updated: May 30, 2023
2 min read

Loans

What does anonymizing a loan do to the loan record?

It removes the userId attribute from the loan JSON.

How can I retrieve anonymized loan data from FOLIO?

  • Using an API call to /loan-storage/loans with a CQL query can retrieve the loan records:
    • {{okapiurl}}/loan-storage/loans?limit=100000&query=(cql.allRecords=1 NOT userId="")

Is "Anonymize immediately" actually immediate? 

As of Juniper, the "Anonymize Immediately" process was changed to run every hour; this was to address a bug ( CIRC-1178 - Getting issue details... STATUS ) where immediate anonymization did not actually anonymize all loans when there were large numbers of closed loans present.

In practice, this means that (as of 10 November 2021 in Kiwi Bugfest):

  • If you select the option "Immediately after loan/ fee/fine closes", then the loan will anonymise once an hour (at approx. the 37th minute of the hour in bugfest - your hosting provider should be able to configure the time for your tenant).
    Example: Check in = 14:50 --> Loan will anonymise at 15:37.
  • If you select the interval option (e.g. after 1 hour), then the loan will anonymise at the next 37th minute after that hour.
    Example: Check in = 14:50 --> One hour later = 15:50 --> Loan will anonymise at 16:37.

The current solution has three pieces, relevant to your FOLIO hosting provider:

  • increase the number of loans checked to 50 000 (can be overridden by an environment variable)
  • increase the interval between runs to 1 hour (can be overridden in Okapi)
  • increase the guideline memory requirements for the module (by 256Mb)


Requests

Are requests able to be anonymized in FOLIO?

Not yet. The relevant feature to track is UXPROD-1041 - Getting issue details... STATUS


Fees and Fines

Are paid / waived fees and fines able to be anonymized in FOLIO?

Not yet. Relevant jiras are UXPROD-1853 - Getting issue details... STATUS and those related to that feature.


Treat closed loans with associated fee/fines differently

Only this option will allow you to anonymize loans without fee/fines, while keeping loans with fee/fines still visible in the User's Loans section.
If you do not select this option, then ALL loans will get anonymize, regardless of whether they have fee/fines. There is a Jira for this: UIU-2739 - Getting issue details... STATUS