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Replace names in an interview transcript with pseudonyms

This interview anonymizer replaces the names and other details you choose in a transcript with pseudonyms, right in your browser. The result is pseudonymised rather than anonymous, so read it through yourself and keep the key apart from it.

The tool works once JavaScript has loaded.

This is pseudonymisation, not anonymisation.

The tool swaps the names and details you choose. Job titles, places, events and ways of speaking stay in the text and can still identify someone, so read the whole result yourself.

Up to 500,000 characters, or a .txt file up to 2 MB.

Likely identifiers

This looks for capitalised words inside sentences, emails, phone numbers, links, dates and the UK National Insurance number format. It will miss things, such as a name that only starts sentences, a nickname or an initial. Nothing changes until you accept a suggestion.

Your replacement list

Add each name with the pseudonym to use. Longer names are replaced first, so add the full name and the first name as separate rows. A name typed with a capital replaces that spelling and its ALL CAPS form. Type it all in lower case to replace every form. Other forms of a name need their own row.

Pseudonymised transcript

Read this all the way through before you use it.

Keep the key apart from the transcript

The key links real names to pseudonyms, so anyone with both can undo the replacement. Store it somewhere else, with access limited to those who need it.

Your transcript and list stay in this browser tab. Nothing is uploaded or saved, and it is all gone when you close or reload the page.

How to pseudonymise a transcript

  1. 1

    Paste the text or open a .txt file

    The text stays in this browser tab. The tool takes up to 500,000 characters, or a .txt file up to 2 MB.
  2. 2

    Review the suggestions

    Press Find likely identifiers, then accept or ignore each suggestion. Nothing changes until you accept it.
  3. 3

    Build your replacement list

    Each name gets a pseudonym such as Participant 1. You can change the pseudonym or add names yourself. If a suggestion is someone already on your list, press Same person to give it their pseudonym.
  4. 4

    Read the result and download it

    Copy the result or download it as .txt. Download the key separately and store it apart from the transcript.

Pseudonymised is not the same as anonymous

This tool replaces the words you choose, so you can use it to redact names from a transcript, but it cannot make a text anonymous. A job title, a small workplace, a place name, an unusual event or a way of speaking can still point to one person, and those details stay in the text unless you replace them too.

Anyone holding both the transcript and the key can undo the replacement. Under the GDPR, pseudonymised data that can be linked back to a person is still personal data, so this tool does not settle what you may do with a transcript. Follow your data management plan and your ethics approval, and ask your institution if you are unsure.

How the replacement works

  • Whole words only. Replacing Ann leaves Anna and Joanne alone, and this works for letters such as Å, Ø and Ł.
  • Possessives keep their ending. Anna’s becomes Participant 1’s.
  • Case matters. A name typed with a capital replaces that spelling and its ALL CAPS form, but not the lower-case word, so Bill does not change the bill. The tool shows you what it left, and typing the name in lower case replaces every form.
  • Hyphenated names are left alone and listed. Replacing Anna does not touch Anna-Maria, so add that as its own row.

What the suggestions can miss

Suggestions come from simple patterns: capitalised words inside a sentence, emails, phone numbers, links, dates and the UK National Insurance number format. A single name that only ever opens a sentence is not suggested. Neither are nicknames, initials, misheard names or a description of someone. A long list of suggestions also includes ordinary words, so review each one.

Still need a transcript to work on? Spirelight’s interview transcription makes a text draft from an uploaded recording, which you check against the audio yourself.

Questions and answers

Is my transcript anonymous after using this?
No. It is pseudonymised. Details such as job titles, places and events remain unless you replace them, and the key can reverse the replacement, so a reader who knows the setting may still recognise someone.
Does my transcript leave my browser?
No. The text is processed in this browser tab, nothing is uploaded, and nothing is saved. It is gone when you close or reload the page, so download the result and the key first.
Why was a word not replaced?
A name typed with a capital does not change the same word in lower case, because that is often an ordinary word, and a hyphenated name counts as a different word. The tool lists what it left. Add a row for any that is the same person.
What should I do with the key?
Keep it apart from the transcript, with access limited to those who need it. Anyone who has both can link pseudonyms back to real names. Delete it when your data plan says to.
Does it handle other forms of a name?
Only partly. English possessives work, but other forms of a name, such as a short form or a misspelling, need their own row. If a suggestion is someone already on your list, press Same person to give it their pseudonym. Before you use the result, search it for any part of a name you replaced.

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