Exit interview redaction is the removal of personal identifiers from a leaver's feedback notes. UK GDPR Recital 26 treats data that no longer points to a person as outside the rules, the test the ICO applies. anonym.plus marks each name and detail on your own machine, so the candid feedback survives while the person behind it is hidden.
When this applies
Departing staff give frank views that name line managers and colleagues. You strip those identifiers before the summary reaches leadership or a supplier dashboard.
How anonym.plus handles it
- Open the notes in anonym.plus on your workstation.
- Local OCR reads a scanned, hand-written page.
- The tool flags the leaver, managers, and colleagues named.
- Confirm each flag and keep the themes intact.
- Replace each name with a steady label, or black it out.
- Save the clean summary locally — it never leaves the device.
What you need to provide
- The interview notes (PDF, DOCX, or TXT).
- An operator: Replace (swap), Redact (black out), or Mask (partial).
- Optional: a name map, kept off for true anonymity.
PII entity types detected
| Category | anonym.plus entity type | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Names | PERSON | Sophie Turner → [LEAVER] |
| Names | PERSON | line manager named → [MANAGER] |
| Contact | EMAIL_ADDRESS | s.turner@example.co.uk → [EMAIL] |
| Contact | PHONE_NUMBER | +44 20 7946 0101 → [PHONE] |
| Dates | DATE_TIME | last day 14/03 → [DATE] |
| Organisation | ORGANIZATION | former team name → [TEAM] |
Compliance achieved
- Targets the anonymity standard in UK GDPR Recital 26, the ICO's test.
- Runs offline, so candid feedback stays inside your HR team.
- Working copies are kept safe with AES-256-GCM.
- Covers 340+ PII types across 48 languages.
Anonymise exit interview records offline — see plans & start free →
Limitations & cautions
Frank feedback can point to a person through a rare role or event, not just a name. The tool flags named items. Read the free-text comments yourself for indirect clues before you circulate anything.
Frequently asked questions
Does Recital 26 mean redacted notes fall outside UK GDPR?
Only if re-identification is no longer reasonably possible — the ICO's bar. anonym.plus removes the named identifiers; you must also check that a unique remark cannot single someone out.
Can it read hand-written interview pages?
Yes. Local OCR reads a scan first, then flags the names so you can swap or black them out.
Is the feedback uploaded anywhere?
No. The desktop app runs on your machine with no cloud step, so the notes stay private.