How Can I Replace Django\'s Auto-Incrementing Primary Key with a Unique, Secure Integer ID for Specific Models?

Replace Django's Primary Key with a Unique Integer for Specific Tables

In Django, the primary key is typically an auto-incremented positive integer. While this serves as a practical default, it can compromise privacy by exposing the number of entities in a database. To address this concern, a customized solution is necessary that adheres to certain requirements.

Requirements

• Retain primary key field type as Integer.
• Minimize performance overhead by hashing the primary key only once upon record insertion.
• Use an irreversible hashing algorithm.
• Ensure uniqueness within a specific table rather than globally.
• Keep the hashed value concise to avoid lengthy URLs.

Approach: Timestamp-based ID Generation

Inspired by the approach used by Instagram, a suitable solution is to generate IDs based on a combination of timestamps and random bits, providing both temporal and unique properties.

Code Implementation

ID Generation:

START_TIME = a constant representing a Unix timestamp.

def make_id():
    t = int(time.time() * 1000) - START_TIME
    u = random.SystemRandom().getrandbits(23)
    id = (t << 23) | u
    return id

Model Definition:

class MyClass(models.Model):
    id = models.BigIntegerField(default=make_id, primary_key=True)

This approach provides a secure and efficient way to generate unique primary keys while addressing the specific requirements outlined in the question. Additionally, the reverse_id method can be implemented to retrieve the creation time from the ID, potentially obviating the need for an additional field.

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