Redact a document before you share it
How to remove sensitive data from a PDF, scan, Office or text file before you share it or add it to an AI conversation, and get it back in the same format.
With Anonymise documents you remove sensitive data from a document before you share it with someone or add it to a conversation with an AI tool. Think of a CV you are forwarding to a colleague, or a contract you want to ask an AI tool about. You get back a copy in the same format, with the removed text genuinely gone, while the original stays as it was. You can do this in the dashboard, in the extension and, for PDF, in the desktop app.
Transcript
On screen: Heading: "Choosing a file", labelled "Documents". The dashboard at app.beesensible.eu/redact, with "Anonymise documents" selected in the menu. The "Redact" page shows the box "Anonymise a document" with the button "Choose file…", "or drag a file here" and "PDF, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, images and text files. You get it back in the same format." The file "Tenancy agreement.docx" is dragged in. The steps "Loading document", "Resolving profile" and "Detecting sensitive data" then complete.
In the dashboard you open Anonymise documents and drag a file onto the screen. It can be a PDF or a scan, a Word, Excel or PowerPoint file, an image or a text file.
On screen: Heading: "Reviewing the selection", labelled "Review". At the top: "All text from the file, including comments and notes. You get it back as .docx." On the left the tenancy agreement with highlighted data, on the right the list "5 found · 5 selected": Woonstichting Oost, Sanne de Vries, Lindelaan 14, 3512 AB Utrecht, 06 12345678 and NL91 ABNA 0417 1643 00. The highlight on Woonstichting Oost is clicked and unticked. With "Draw box" a box is drawn over the signature, and "Box · page 1" appears in the list under "Manual".
BeeSensible looks for names, addresses, bank account numbers and other sensitive data. Whatever is ticked will be removed, and whatever may stay, you untick. You cover a signature yourself with Draw box.
On screen: Heading: "A copy in the same format", labelled "Anonymise". At the bottom: "5 items will be removed", "BeeSensible may miss sensitive data. Review the document before sharing it." and the buttons "Preview" and "Anonymise (5)". "Anonymise (5)" is clicked. "Anonymised file downloaded." appears at the top, and the file "Tenancy agreement.anonymized.docx" is ready.
Then click Anonymise and download a copy in the same format, while the original stays as it was.
On screen: Heading: "Review the copy yourself", labelled "Check it yourself". The downloaded file "Tenancy agreement.anonymized.docx" is open. The name, address, phone number, bank account number and signature are covered by black boxes; Woonstichting Oost and the monthly rent are still there.
BeeSensible checks the copy once more and warns you if something was left in. The detection can still miss something, so review the copy yourself before you share it.
On screen: End card: the BeeSensible logo with the title "Anonymising a document".
How to redact a document in the dashboard
Choose a file
In the dashboard, choose Anonymise documents and click Choose file…, or drag a file onto the screen. BeeSensible searches the document for names, account numbers, addresses and phone numbers, among other things, and for your organisation's custom terms.
I can't see Anonymise documents in my menu
In that case the module is not switched on for your organisation. Ask your admin whether it is available.
Review the selection
BeeSensible removes everything that is ticked. To keep a value that was found, click its highlight to untick it.
If detection has missed something, you add it yourself. With Draw box you drag a rectangle over whatever needs to go. This is also how you remove a passport photo or a signature, because detection does not recognise those. You can also click a word and choose between Just this one and Everywhere in document.
If BeeSensible read a page with OCR, because it is a scan or an image, check that page with extra care. Text recognition in an image can misread words, and detection then misses them.
Anonymise and download
Click Preview to look at the copy, then Anonymise. You then download the copy, for example as name.anonymized.docx. After anonymising, BeeSensible checks the copy once more. If it still finds a value in it that should have been removed, you get a warning.
Which files can I redact?
You can redact PDFs (including scanned ones), images, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OpenDocument, RTF and plain text, including CSV and Markdown. A file can be at most 25 MB and 200 pages and must not be password-protected. For formats other than PDF, the review shows all the text in the file, including comments, tracked changes and hidden sheets. If your organisation has switched those other formats off, you can only redact PDFs.
In the extension and the desktop app
In the extension, you drag a file onto the Documents tab in the sidebar. After anonymising, Add to chat puts the copy into your message. If Keep context is on, you choose between Black box and Placeholder at that point. With placeholders, you read the real values in the AI tool's answer while the AI tool only sees the placeholders. See also Masking when you attach.
In the desktop app, you find the review screen under Documents > Anonymise. There you can only redact PDFs.
What happens to your document
When you redact through the dashboard or the extension, BeeSensible's own servers at European providers process your document in working memory; it stays there for at most fifteen minutes and is not stored anywhere. Your organisation only sees counts and data types, never the content of the document and not who redacted it.
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