CV anonymisation is the removal of personal data from a job seeker's submission before review. Equality Act 2010 s.39(1) makes it unlawful for an employer's recruitment arrangements to discriminate against an applicant, and s.19 catches criteria that look neutral yet disadvantage a group defined by a protected characteristic, such as a name or a school that hints at age or ethnicity. anonym.plus marks names, photos, and origin cues on your own machine, so a panel reviews skills against arrangements that meet both sections.
When this applies
The Equality and Human Rights Commission's Employment Statutory Code of Practice points to blind CVs as one way to cut the risk a panel reads bias into a name, a school, or a graduation year before it reaches the skills section. You strip those cues so the panel's arrangements meet s.39 on the record, not just in intent.
How anonym.plus handles it
- Open the submission in anonym.plus on your workstation.
- Built-in OCR reads any scanned or image-based page.
- The app marks names, contacts, and origin cues.
- Confirm each marking and keep job titles and skills.
- Swap each cue for a neutral label, or black it out.
- Keep the alias map ON if you must re-link the person later.
What you need to provide
- The submission (PDF, DOCX, or TXT).
- An operator: Replace (swap), Redact (black out), or Mask (partial).
- The optional alias map, ON for blind review, OFF for true anonymity.
PII entity types detected
| Category | anonym.plus entity type | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Names | PERSON | Imogen Hartley → [CANDIDATE] |
| Contact | EMAIL_ADDRESS | imogen@example.co.uk → [EMAIL] |
| Contact | PHONE_NUMBER | +44 7700 900148 → [PHONE] |
| Origin | NRP | nationality cue → [ORIGIN] |
| Location | LOCATION | Leeds LS1 4DY → [ADDRESS] |
| Dates | DATE_TIME | graduation 2009 → [DATE] |
Compliance achieved
- Meets the recruitment-arrangements duty in Equality Act 2010 s.39(1)(a): an employer must not discriminate in the arrangements it makes for deciding who is offered a job.
- Reduces the indirect-discrimination risk in Equality Act 2010 s.19, where a neutral-looking cue such as a name or a graduation year disadvantages one protected group more than another.
- Reflects the blind-CV practice the EHRC Employment Statutory Code of Practice recommends for cutting bias before shortlisting.
- Working copies stay safe with AES-256-GCM at rest.
- Covers 340+ PII types across 48 languages, well past name and photo.
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Limitations & cautions
A hobby, a club, or a rare award can still hint at a protected characteristic even once the name is gone, and s.19 looks at the practical effect on a group, not just the labelled fields. The app marks listed items; read free-text lines for indirect cues yourself before the panel scores the CV.
Frequently asked questions
Can I re-link a shortlisted candidate after a blind sift?
Yes. Keep the alias map on during the review stage. Once scoring under the s.39 arrangements is finished, most teams switch it off and restore the real identity to arrange the interview.
Does the Equality Act 2010 ban asking for a photo?
No blanket ban exists, but a photo lets a panel infer age, sex, or ethnicity before it reads a single qualification, which is exactly the effect s.19 targets. Stripping it removes that risk without needing a separate policy.
Will job titles and dates of employment survive the pass?
Yes. Only personal and origin cues are marked for removal. Job titles, employers, and tenure stay, since those are exactly what the s.39 arrangements are meant to weigh.