CV de-identification is the removal of personal data from a curriculum vitae before blind review. Age is a protected characteristic under Equality Act 2010 s.9, and a graduation year or a professional-body admission date can reveal it as reliably as a date of birth field. Section 19 catches that indirect route even where no one asks the age question outright. anonym.plus marks names, schools, and date cues on your device, so the panel reads experience without the age or origin signal attached to it.
When this applies
A long CV lists schools, admission dates, and professional-body memberships that hint at age or origin well before the panel reaches the skills section. You hide those hints so reviewers weigh the record under s.19's own test: whether the practical effect disadvantages one group, not whether anyone meant it to.
How anonym.plus handles it
- Load the document into anonym.plus on your device.
- Built-in OCR reads a scanned academic page if present.
- The app marks names, schools, and origin cues.
- Confirm each marking and keep roles and publications.
- Swap each cue for a neutral label.
- Keep the alias map ON to re-link a finalist later.
What you need to provide
- The CV (PDF, DOCX, or TXT).
- An operator (Replace keeps the record readable).
- The optional alias map, ON for blind review.
PII entity types detected
| Category | anonym.plus entity type | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Names | PERSON | Lucas Brand → [CANDIDATE] |
| Origin | NRP | national origin → [ORIGIN] |
| Education | ORGANIZATION | former university → [SCHOOL] |
| Dates | DATE_TIME | PhD 2004 → [DATE] |
| Contact | EMAIL_ADDRESS | lucas@example.co.uk → [EMAIL] |
| Location | LOCATION | town of birth → [LOCATION] |
Compliance achieved
- Targets the indirect-discrimination route in Equality Act 2010 s.19, where a date or a school name stands in for age or origin.
- Age is a protected characteristic under Equality Act 2010 s.9; hiding graduation years and admission dates removes that inference.
- Offline work keeps the record privileged and local.
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Limitations & cautions
A niche publication, a rare grant, or a single professional-body fellowship can still point to one person even with names removed, and s.19 asks about a group-level effect the software cannot judge on its own. Check the experience section for unique clues before the panel reads it.
Frequently asked questions
Why remove a graduation year if age isn't asked directly?
Equality Act 2010 s.19 covers indirect discrimination, where a neutral detail like a graduation year still disadvantages an age group. Hiding the year closes that route without anyone needing to ask the age question.
Does removing schools weaken the review?
No. Reviewers still see roles, publications, and skills. Only the age- and origin-linked cues drop, so the panel judges substance against the s.19 fairness test rather than a school's reputation.
Can a finalist be re-linked after the blind stage?
Yes, if you kept the alias map on. Restore the identity once the panel has scored the record, so the offer and reference stage can proceed under the applicant's real name.