title: Need mySQL Function to Scramble Text in a Column
body: <p>I am a newbie to mySQL and PHPmyAdmin - please go easy on me! </p>
  
  <p>I need a function to scramble or replace real data for production/testing purposes (i want to hire a freelancer but need to protect identities first).  I want to scramble their names, their emails, phone numbers, etc., but I need to leave other columns intact (such as state and zip) for our testing purposes.</p>
  
  <p>I have used this:</p>
  
  <pre><code>UPDATE members 
  SET last_name=REVERSE(last_name);
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>BUT it's too easy to "crack".  Is there a simple but more secure way to scramble the field to protect the privacy?  Maybe a built-in random function? Or even a function to randomly replace characters? </p>
  
  <p>I do not need to "unscramble" data afterwards since this is just a test server anyway.  Thank you for your help.</p>