An erasure-confirmation letter is the proof you give a person that you deleted their data under UK GDPR Art. 17, the right to erasure. Art. 17(3)(b) means the right does not bite where you are keeping the record to comply with a legal obligation — a retention duty under tax, employment, or company law, for example — so the confirmation sometimes has to explain a partial rather than a full deletion. Before you send it, you strip stray PII it may quote. anonym.plus marks that data on your own device.
When this applies
A subject asks you to confirm their data is gone. Your proof quotes log lines and system entries that still name other people.
How anonym.plus handles it
- Open the proof letter in anonym.plus on your device.
- The tool flags names, IDs, and contacts in the quoted text.
- Keep the subject's own reference details.
- Mark any other person's PII for removal.
- Swap or black out each one, then read it back.
- Save the confirmation on your machine.
What you need to provide
- The confirmation letter (PDF, DOCX, or TXT).
- An operator: Replace keeps the letter readable.
- An allow-list holding the subject's own reference.
PII entity types detected
| Category | anonym.plus entity type | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Names | PERSON | operator name → [STAFF] |
| Identifiers | NATIONAL_ID | ticket ref → [REF] |
| Contact | EMAIL_ADDRESS | support inbox → [EMAIL] |
| Dates | DATE_TIME | deleted 03/05/2026 → [DATE] |
| Names | PERSON | third party → [PERSON] |
| Location | LOCATION | site address → [ADDRESS] |
Compliance achieved
- Supports erasure proof under UK GDPR Art. 17.
- Explains a partial deletion consistently where Art. 17(3)(b)'s legal-obligation exception keeps part of the record.
- Stops the confirmation from quoting another person's PII.
- Offline work keeps the proof inside your organisation.
- Reads 48 languages for subjects in any tongue.
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Limitations & cautions
Art. 17 has exceptions, like a legal duty to keep some data under Art. 17(3)(b). Whether erasure applies, and whether a retained record falls inside that exception, is a legal call. The tool only cleans the letter you write; it does not perform the deletion or judge whether the right is owed.
Frequently asked questions
What is an erasure confirmation?
A short proof that you deleted a person's data on their Art. 17 request. anonym.plus cleans any stray PII the proof quotes before you send it, so the confirmation itself does not create a fresh disclosure.
Can you refuse to delete everything?
Yes, where Art. 17(3)(b) applies: the right to erasure does not override a legal obligation to keep the data, such as statutory retention periods for tax or employment records. In that case the confirmation should say plainly what was deleted and what was kept back, and why.
Does the tool delete the data itself?
No. You handle the deletion in your systems. The app only redacts the confirmation letter you hand to the subject once the deletion, full or partial, is already done.
Can it keep the subject's reference number?
Yes. Put their own reference on an allow-list, and the tool keeps it while it removes other people's PII the letter happens to quote.