What Are Data Hashes and Why Do They Matter?

What Are Data Hashes and Why Do They Matter?

In FoodBank Manager (FBM), data hashes are used to protect client privacy while still enabling useful, unduplicated reporting at the food bank level.

A data hash is a one-way transformation of personal information — like a name or address — into a fixed-length, unreadable string. Once a value is hashed, it can’t be reversed back into the original input.

What does a hash look like?

Let’s take an example:

• Original Name: Don DeDecker

• Hashed Output: 2a54b8a0654d8f583ba377f37432e8f403495154

Each original value always produces the same hash, but it’s impossible to reverse-engineer the hash to find out what the original input was.

Why does FBM use hashes?

• To remove personally identifiable information (PII) from shared data

• To maintain client anonymity while still tracking household trends

• To allow for regional unduplicated counts without compromising privacy

How are hashes different from encryption?

Hashing is one-way and irreversible. Encryption is two-way — data can be decrypted with the right key.

FBM uses hashing for depersonalization because it eliminates the risk of someone restoring the original values.

How does hashing support unduplicated reporting?

Because the same original values always create the same hash, FBM can detect when the same household visits multiple agencies.

This allows the food bank to produce unduplicated counts across the region — even though no PII is ever shared.

Summary

• Hashing replaces PII with a unique, irreversible value

• It supports anonymous, yet accurate, reporting

• It enables safe regional data aggregation in FBM

Need help understanding how data is depersonalized or reported across agencies?

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