Encrypt editorial metadata for authors, sections, and tags

Q: Why should I include random data after ## when encrypting?

Appending a different random value after ## ensures that the same author, section, or tag does not produce the same encrypted output across articles, preventing pattern-based reverse engineering.

Marfeel supports encrypted Authors, Sections, and Tags for situations where you need to track editorial metadata without publicly exposing the real values. When declared as encrypted, the actual values are only visible to Marfeel.

Declaring real authors, sections, and tags is a good recommendation from an SEO and E-E-A-T perspective. However, there are strategic situations where you do not want to openly expose these values but still want to track them in Marfeel.

How to encrypt values

Publishers encrypt values using an asymmetric RSA cipher. Specifically, you encrypt your text using Public-Key Cryptography Standards (PKCS) with the Optimal Asymmetric Encryption Padding (OAEP) padding scheme, then transform the result into a base64 string. More info on PKCS#1.

Marfeel public RSA key

Encrypt the values with this public RSA key:

How encryption works

Marfeel extracts all the information before ## as the data.

Important: Use always a different random value after ## so the same author doesn't get the same encrypted value on all its articles.

Cipher code examples

Here is a cipher example in PHP:

public function encrypt(string $data): string
{
    $oOpenSSLAsymmetricKey = openssl_get_publickey($this->publicKey);
    if (openssl_public_encrypt($data, $encrypted, $oOpenSSLAsymmetricKey, OPENSSL_PKCS1_OAEP_PADDING)) {
        $data = base64_encode($encrypted);
    } else {
        throw new \Exception('Unable to encrypt data');
    }

    return $data;
}

Here is a cipher example in Node.js:

const NodeRSA = require('node-rsa');

const encrypt = async (data) => {
    const clientKey = new NodeRSA(RSA_PUBLIC_KEY);
    clientKey.setOptions({encryptionScheme: 'pkcs1_oaep'});

    return clientKey.encrypt(data, 'base64');
};

Here is a cipher example in Python:

from cryptography.hazmat.primitives.asymmetric import padding, rsa
from cryptography.hazmat.primitives import serialization, hashes
import base64

def encrypt_rsa(public_key_pem: str, data: str) -> str:
    public_key = serialization.load_pem_public_key(public_key_pem.encode())
    encrypted = public_key.encrypt(
        data.encode(),
        padding.OAEP(
            mgf=padding.MGF1(algorithm=hashes.SHA1()),
            algorithm=hashes.SHA1(),
            label=None
        )
    )

    return base64.b64encode(encrypted).decode()

Encrypting authors

Declaration

The mrf:authors meta tag accepts encrypted="true":

<meta property="mrf:authors" encrypted="true" content="AiqpEJ+VdfIm9dlXeRND6RD+IdMBF=" >

Example

To encrypt an article with authors John Doe and Fred Doe:

Non-encrypted:

<meta property="mrf:authors" content="John Doe;Fred Doe">

Encrypted:

<meta property="mrf:authors" encrypted="true" content="theOutputOfEncrypting(John Doe;Fred Doe##randomdata)">

Encrypting sections

Declaration

The mrf:sections meta tag accepts encrypted="true":

<meta property="mrf:sections" encrypted="true" content="AiqpEJ+VdfIm9dlXeRND6RD+IdMBF=" >

Example

To encrypt an article with sections Politics and Economy:

Non-encrypted:

<meta property="mrf:sections" content="Politics;Economy">

Encrypted:

<meta property="mrf:sections" encrypted="true" content="theOutputOfEncrypting(Politics;Economy##randomdata)">

Encrypting tags

Declaration

The mrf:tags meta tag accepts encrypted="true":

<meta property="mrf:tags" encrypted="true" content="AiqpEJ+VdfIm9dlXeRND6RD+IdMBF=" >

Example

To encrypt an article with tags:

Non-encrypted:

<meta property="mrf:tags" content="tagGroup1:tag_name;tagGroup2:another_tag_name">

Encrypted:

<meta property="mrf:tags" encrypted="true" content="theOutputOfEncrypting(tagGroup1:tag_name;tagGroup2:another_tag_name##randomdata)">

Why would I encrypt editorial metadata in Marfeel?

Encrypting metadata lets you track real authors, sections, and tags in Marfeel without publicly exposing those values. The real values are only visible to Marfeel after decryption.

What encryption method does Marfeel use for metadata?

Marfeel uses asymmetric RSA encryption with PKCS#1 OAEP padding. Publishers encrypt values with Marfeel’s public RSA key and encode the result as a base64 string.

Why should I include random data after ## when encrypting?

Appending a different random value after ## ensures that the same author, section, or tag does not produce the same encrypted output across articles, preventing pattern-based reverse engineering.