A reporting folder often spans years of files, kept around because a simple contract claim can be brought up to six years later under Limitation Act 1980 s.5, or up to twelve years for a claim on a deed under s.8. That long shelf life is exactly why a batch run matters: PCI DSS v4.0 applies the same account-data limit to every file in the folder, and stitching files together raises the same risk the ICO's motivated-intruder test is built to catch — a combination of fields across several files can re-identify someone even where no single file does. anonym.plus processes up to 20 files at a time on your device, with a shared map so one customer maps to one alias across the whole set.
When this applies
A reporting folder holds many exports that name the same customers. One-by-one work risks drift, so a batch run applies the standard evenly across the set.
How anonym.plus handles it
- Point anonym.plus at the folder on your machine.
- It scans each file for account and customer data.
- Local OCR reads any scanned pages in the set.
- A shared map keeps repeat customers steady across files.
- Review the summary and fix low-confidence flags.
- Save the clean set locally.
What you need to provide
- A folder of payment files (CSV, PDF, mixed).
- The shared label map turned on for steady results.
- An operator (Replace works well for a reporting set).
PII & financial identifiers detected
| Category | anonym.plus entity type | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Account | CREDIT_CARD | cards across files → [CARD] |
| Names | PERSON | customer across files → [BUYER_1] |
| Contact | EMAIL_ADDRESS | emails → [EMAIL] |
| Bank | IBAN_CODE | IBANs → [IBAN] |
| Amount | MONEY | amounts → kept |
| Dates | DATE_TIME | dates → [DATE] |
Compliance achieved
- Applies PCI DSS v4.0 the same way to every file.
- Fits a retention rationale bounded by Limitation Act 1980 ss.5/8, rather than an indefinite reporting archive.
- Runs the ICO's motivated-intruder test across the batch, not file by file, since combined fields raise the re-identification risk on their own.
- The shared map keeps results steady across the set.
- Whole-folder handling stays offline — nothing is uploaded.
Anonymise payment datasets offline — see plans & start free →
Limitations & cautions
A mixed folder of scans and native files leans on OCR for the images, so review low-confidence flags. The shared map can re-link the set if kept; turn it off when you need true anonymity.
Frequently asked questions
Why keep years of payment files at all?
Because a simple contract claim can still be brought up to six years later under Limitation Act 1980 s.5 (or twelve years for a deed, under s.8). That retention rationale is why a folder accumulates in the first place, and why a batch clean-up matters more than a single file ever would.
How does batch mode keep one customer steady?
A shared map logs each person once, so the same customer maps to the same alias in every file across the folder.
Does batch work upload anything?
No. The whole run is offline, so the payment data stays on your machine.