Text Redactor (Mask Personal Data)
Hide personal data behind placeholders like [EMAIL_1], then put it back in the reply.
Runs in your browser: the text, your terms and the key are never uploaded.
One per line, or separated by commas. Names are not found on their own, so list everyone who should not be named.
Placeholders can be turned back into the originals with Restore originals below.
Redacted text
What was found
Untick anything that may stay in the text.
| Mask | Type | Found | Replaced by | Times |
|---|
Restore originals
Paste a reply that contains placeholders such as [NAME_1] — for example a chatbot’s answer — to put the real values back.
No key yet: redact a text with placeholders on this page, or open a key file you downloaded earlier.
Restored text
About the Text Redactor (Mask Personal Data)
Before you paste an email thread, a support ticket or a document into ChatGPT, Gemini or any other chatbot — or share it with a colleague — run it through the redactor. It finds email addresses, phone numbers, card numbers, IBANs, Aadhaar numbers and Virtual IDs, PAN numbers, UPI IDs, IP addresses, web addresses and any names or words you list, and replaces them with numbered placeholders such as [EMAIL_1] and [NAME_2], with labels, or with █ blocks.
Numbers are only masked when their check digits are right — the Luhn digit for cards, MOD 97 for IBANs, the Verhoeff digit for Aadhaar — so prices, order numbers and dates stay readable. The page keeps a key of which placeholder stands for what, so when the chatbot answers with [NAME_1] you can paste its reply back and get the real names. Everything happens in your browser; the text and the key are never uploaded.
How to use it
- Paste your text, or open a
.txt,.csvor other text file. - Under Names and terms, list people, companies, places or project names to hide — one per line.
- Choose what to find and how to replace it: Placeholders ([EMAIL_1]) can be put back later; Labels ([EMAIL]) and Blocks (█████) cannot.
- Check the list of what was found and untick anything that can stay, then Copy or Download the redacted text.
- To get the originals back, paste the reply into Restore originals. It uses this page’s key, or a key file you downloaded earlier.
Examples
I'm Arjun Mehta ([email protected], +1 202 555 0143). Draft a polite reply to my landlord.
I'm [NAME_1] ([EMAIL_1], [PHONE_1]). Draft a polite reply to my landlord.
Arjun Mehta was added under Names and terms; the email and phone number are found on their own.
Aadhaar 9999 4105 7058, PAN ABCDE1234F, ticket 1234 5678 9012
Aadhaar [AADHAAR_1], PAN [PAN_1], ticket 1234 5678 9012
The ticket number has the shape of an Aadhaar number, but Aadhaar numbers never start with 0 or 1, so it is left alone.
Dear [NAME_1], your refund to [CARD_1] is on its way.
Dear Arjun Mehta, your refund to 4111 1111 1111 1111 is on its way.
Placeholders are restored even if the chatbot changes their capitals or spacing, such as [Name_1], [ CARD_1 ] or [Name 1].
Common uses
- Asking an AI chatbot to summarise, translate or reply to a customer email without sharing the customer’s details.
- Sharing logs, support tickets or bug reports that contain email addresses, IP addresses or account numbers.
- Sending a document for review with names and ID numbers blacked out.
- Preparing example data for training, documentation or a public forum post.
What is found and how it is checked
- Email addresses, also with international letters (δοκιμή@παράδειγμα.δοκιμή).
- Phone numbers in any country format, found and validated with libphonenumber-js (Google’s phone number metadata). Numbers without a + country code are read as numbers of the country you choose (India by default).
- Card numbers: 13 to 19 digits, written together or in groups with spaces or hyphens, with a correct Luhn check digit (ISO/IEC 7812-1) — also when an expiry date or security code follows the number (4111 1111 1111 1111 12/28).
- IBANs: two letters, two check digits and up to 30 letters or digits, in capitals or lower case, with correct MOD 97-10 check digits (ISO 13616-1, ISO 7064).
- Aadhaar numbers: 12 digits that do not start with 0 or 1, with a correct Verhoeff check digit, and Aadhaar Virtual IDs (16 digits, Verhoeff). UIDAI describes Aadhaar as a 12-digit random number; the e-filing portal of the Income Tax Department applies the same three checks (uidai.gov.in and incometax.gov.in).
- PAN numbers: five letters, four digits and a letter, such as ABCDE1234F (or typed all in lower case, abcde1234f), and GSTINs, which contain a PAN: two digits, the PAN and three more characters (27ABCDE1234F1Z5).
- UPI IDs such as name@bank, IP addresses (IPv4, and IPv6 checked with the browser’s address parser) and web addresses starting with http://, https:// or www.
- Your names and terms: whole words by default, ignoring capital letters, so Priya also hides PRIYA but not Priyanka.
When two finds overlap, the one that starts first and is longer wins: an email inside a web address is masked with the address.
Placeholders and the key
With Placeholders, each different value gets its own number, and the same value always gets the same placeholder: every mention of [email protected] becomes [EMAIL_1], so a chatbot can still tell who wrote what. Numbers already used in the text (from an earlier redaction) are skipped.
The key lists every placeholder with its original text. It stays in this page until you close or reload it, and you can download it as a small JSON file to restore a reply later. The key contains the personal data you removed, so keep the file as private as the original text.
Limitations
- Names, street addresses and dates of birth are not recognised on their own: add the names and words you want hidden under Names and terms.
- Only the formats above are found. Passport, voter ID, driving licence and bank account numbers without an IBAN are not, and neither are numbers split across lines or written as words.
- A number with a valid check digit is masked even when it is something else (about one random 16-digit number in ten passes the Luhn check). Untick it in the list if it can stay.
- Redacting text does not make a document anonymous: details such as job titles, places or events can still identify a person. Read the result before you share it.
- Blocks and labels cannot be restored; use placeholders if you need the originals back.
Privacy
Everything happens in your browser. What you enter or open here is not uploaded or stored by MySmartCoPilot.
Frequently asked questions
Is it safe to paste confidential text here?
The redaction runs entirely in your browser: the text, the list of terms and the key are never sent to a server or stored. You can check this by switching off your internet connection after the page has loaded — it keeps working.
How do I use it with ChatGPT or another AI chatbot?
Redact your text with Placeholders, copy it into the chatbot, then paste the chatbot’s answer into Restore originals: [NAME_1], [EMAIL_1] and the others are replaced with the real values again.
Why was a number not masked?
Card, IBAN and Aadhaar numbers are only masked when their check digit is correct, so a mistyped number (or one that is not really a card number) stays. Phone numbers must be valid for their country. If you want a particular number hidden anyway, add it under Names and terms.
Does it find names automatically?
No. Recognising names reliably needs a language model, and a wrong guess would give a false sense of safety. List the names, companies and places you want hidden; capital letters and extra spaces do not matter.
What is the difference between placeholders, labels and blocks?
Placeholders ([EMAIL_1], [EMAIL_2]) keep different values apart and can be restored. Labels ([EMAIL]) show only the kind of data. Blocks (█████) black out every character, as on a printed document, and keep the layout.
Where is the key kept?
Only in this browser tab, in memory. It is gone when you close or reload the page, unless you download it. Anyone with the key file can read the original data, so store it carefully.