defmodule Cloak.SHA256Field do @moduledoc """ An `Ecto.Type` which hashes the field value using the SHA256 algorithm. ## Usage By storing a hash of a field's value, you can then query on it as a proxy for the encrypted field because SHA256 is deterministic and always results in the same value, whereas secure encryption does not. Be warned, however, that this will expose fields which have the same value, because they will contain the same hash. You should create the hash field with the type `:binary`. It can then be added to your `schema` definition like this: schema "table" do field :field_name, Cloak.EncryptedBinaryField # The field you want a hashed copy of field :field_name_hash, Cloak.SHA256Field end In versions of Ecto < 2.0 you'll also want to add `before_insert/1` and `before_update/1` callbacks to ensure that the field is set every time that `:field_name` changes. before_insert :set_field_name_hash before_update :set_field_name_hash defp set_field_name_hash(changeset) do put_change(changeset, :field_name_hash, get_field(changeset, :field_name)) end In Ecto versions > 2.0 callbacks have been removed so you will need to use the `prepare_changes/2` function on the changeset to ensure that the fields stay in sync every time `:field_name` changes. def changeset(struct, params \\ %{}) do struct |> cast(params, [:field_name, :field_name_hash]) |> prepare_changes(fn changeset -> changeset |> put_change(:field_name_hash, get_field(changeset, :field_name)) end) end You should then be able to query the Repo using the `:field_name_hash` in any place you would typically query by `:field_name`. user = Repo.get_by(User, field_name_hash: "query") """ @doc false def type, do: :binary @doc false def cast(value) do {:ok, to_string(value)} end @doc false def dump(value) do {:ok, hash(value)} end @doc false def load(value) do {:ok, value} end @doc false def hash(value) do :crypto.hash(:sha256, value) end end