Requirement 3 speaks about account data wherever it is stored, and that little phrase makes log files a blind spot. A journal written for reconciliation sometimes has an error line or a debug line that quietly carries a full card number or a customer's email in plain text. UK GDPR Art. 5(1)(b) adds a purpose-limitation angle: a log kept for reconciliation should not silently become a customer profile for some other use. anonym.plus clears the sensitive cells on your device and leaves the operational fields — timestamps, trace IDs, status codes — untouched.
When this applies
One line can echo a full card number or a customer email in plain text. You strip those under Requirement 3 before the file goes to a supplier.
How anonym.plus handles it
- Open the file in anonym.plus on your device.
- The tool scans each line for sensitive cells.
- It flags card numbers, emails, and phone values.
- Keep timestamps and trace IDs you need for debugging.
- Swap or black out the confirmed items.
- Save the cleaned copy locally.
What you need to provide
- The log file (TXT, CSV, or JSON).
- An operator (Replace keeps lines parseable).
- Optional allow-list for trace and request IDs.
PII & financial identifiers detected
| Category | anonym.plus entity type | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Account | CREDIT_CARD | pan=4111111111111111 → [CARD] |
| Contact | EMAIL_ADDRESS | user=lee@example.co.uk → [EMAIL] |
| Contact | PHONE_NUMBER | +44 113 496 0721 → [PHONE] |
| Bank | IBAN_CODE | iban=GB29... → [IBAN] |
| Names | PERSON | name=J. Lee → [NAME] |
| Dates | DATE_TIME | 2026-06-12T14:02 → [TIME] |
Compliance achieved
- Applies PCI DSS v4.0 Req. 3 to the place account data most often turns up unnoticed: log and journal files.
- Follows the purpose-limitation principle in UK GDPR Art. 5(1)(b): a reconciliation log kept for one purpose should not double as a customer-profiling dataset.
- Keeps timestamps and trace IDs intact for triage.
- Offline handling keeps the file off any server.
Anonymise transaction logs offline — see plans & start free →
Limitations & cautions
A line can hide a card number inside an odd field or a URL. The tool flags known patterns; review unusual entries yourself before you share the file.
Frequently asked questions
Do log files really fall under Requirement 3?
Yes. The requirement covers account data regardless of where it is stored, so a log line, a crash report, and a database dump all count the same way a customer record does.
Will my timestamps and trace IDs survive?
Yes. Allow-list those fields so they stay while sensitive cells are removed, keeping the log useful for the debugging or reconciliation purpose it was actually created for — the same purpose UK GDPR Art. 5(1)(b) expects it to be limited to.
Can it handle JSON log lines?
Yes. The tool reads TXT, CSV, and JSON, flagging the sensitive values in each row before you share the file with a supplier or a monitoring team.