Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Classification: PUBLIC

General Questions
Account Questions
Feature Questions
Billing Questions
Technical Questions
Security Questions

General Questions

Q: What is PII?

A: Personally Identifiable Information (PII) is any data that can identify a specific person, such as names, email addresses, phone numbers, credit card numbers, Social Security Numbers, addresses, etc. PII needs to be protected to comply with privacy regulations like GDPR and HIPAA.

Q: What is anonymize.today?

A: anonymize.today is a comprehensive platform for detecting and anonymizing PII in text. It helps organizations protect sensitive data, comply with privacy regulations, and safely use data for testing and development purposes.

Q: Is my data stored?

A: No. Your text is processed in real-time and not stored on our servers. Only metadata (usage statistics, token transactions) is stored. Your actual text content is never saved.

A: Yes! anonymize.today helps you identify and anonymize PII to comply with GDPR and other privacy regulations. The platform includes GDPR-specific presets and features designed for compliance.

Q: What's the difference between hash and encrypt?

Hash: One-way transformation, cannot be reversed (use for permanent anonymization)
Encrypt: Reversible with the same key (use when you need to restore original data later)

Q: Is there a mobile app?

A: anonymize.today is a responsive web application that works seamlessly on mobile browsers (iOS Safari, Chrome, Firefox, etc.). You can access all features from your mobile device without installing a separate app.

Mobile Features (v4.5.3+):

Hamburger menu navigation
Touch-optimized interface (44px minimum tap targets)
Responsive design that adapts to screen size
Full feature access
Token display in navigation drawer

Account Questions

Q: How do I create an account?

Visit anonymize.today
Click "Get Started Free" or "Sign Up"
Enter your email and create a password (12+ characters, mixed case, numbers, special characters)
Verify your email address
You'll automatically receive 300 tokens on the Free plan

Q: I forgot my password. How do I reset it?

Click "Forgot Password?" on the sign-in page
Enter your email address
Check your inbox (and spam folder) for a password reset link
Click the link within 1 hour (it expires for security)
Create a new password that meets the requirements
Your new password cannot be one of your last 3 passwords

Q: How do I change my email address?

Go to Settings → Account tab
Scroll to "Change Email Address" section
Enter your new email address (twice to confirm)
Click "Request Email Change"
Re-authenticate with your password or 2FA code
Check your NEW email for a verification link
Click the link within 24 hours
Your email will be updated, and you'll be logged out everywhere

Q: What happens if I can't access my email?

A: Contact support for assistance. You may need to verify your identity through other means.

Q: How do I delete my account?

A: Contact support to request account deletion. We'll process your request in accordance with data protection regulations.

Q: Can I export my data?

A: Yes! Go to Settings → Account tab and click "Download My Data". This exports all your personal data in JSON format (GDPR Article 20 compliance). Rate limited to 1 export per hour.

Feature Questions

Q: Which languages are supported?

A: We support 15 languages with intelligent lazy loading:

Languages with full NLP support (12):

English (en), German (de), Spanish (es), French (fr)
Italian (it), Portuguese (pt), Dutch (nl), Polish (pl)
Russian (ru), Japanese (ja), Chinese (zh), Korean (ko)

Transformer-only languages (3):

Arabic (ar), Hindi (hi), Turkish (tr)
These use English NLP processing with XLM-RoBERTa for entity recognition

Q: How accurate is the detection?

A: Detection accuracy depends on:

Text quality and context
Selected entity types
Confidence threshold setting
Language selection

Generally, accuracy is very high (90%+) for common PII types. You can adjust the confidence threshold to balance accuracy and coverage.

Q: Can I create custom entity patterns?

A: Yes! You can create custom entities using:

Manual Creation: Write regex patterns yourself
AI-Powered Creation (Basic+ plans): Use AI to generate patterns from examples

Custom entities work identically to built-in entity types.

Q: Can I edit or delete my custom entities and presets?

A: Yes! As of v4.5.7, you can:

Edit entities: Click the Edit button (pencil icon) on any entity card
Delete entities: Click the Delete button (trash icon) and confirm
Edit presets: Click the Edit button on any user-created preset
Delete presets: Click the Delete button on any user-created preset

Note: Built-in presets cannot be edited or deleted (they're protected).

A: When creating or editing a preset/entity, set the sharing level to "Team". Team members with the same organization will see it. Note: Sharing requires Basic plan or higher.

Q: Can I process files?

A: Currently, anonymize.today processes text input. For files, copy and paste the text content into the analyzer or anonymizer. File upload support is planned for future releases.

Q: Can I use my own AI API key?

A: Yes! Go to Settings → Services → AI Service Configuration and enter your OpenAI, Anthropic, or Google API key. This allows you to use your own API quota for AI entity creation.

Q: What's the difference between batch processing and individual processing?

Individual Processing: Process one text at a time
Batch Processing: Process multiple texts in a single operation (more efficient)

Batch processing is available on Basic+ plans with limits:

Basic: Up to 100 items
Pro: Up to 500 items
Business: Up to 5,000 items

Billing Questions

Q: How much does anonymize.today cost?

Free Plan: €0/month (300 tokens per 30-day cycle)
Basic Plan: €3/month (500 tokens per 31-day cycle)
Pro Plan: €9/month (2,000 tokens per 31-day cycle)
Business Plan: €29/month (10,000 tokens per 31-day cycle)

See Pricing & Plans for details.

Q: What payment methods do you accept?

A: We accept secure payments via:

PayPal: PayPal account or credit/debit card through PayPal
Stripe: Direct credit/debit card payments (Visa, Mastercard, Amex, Discover)

Q: Can I cancel my subscription?

A: Yes! You can cancel anytime from Settings → Billing tab. Your access continues until the end of your current billing period, then you'll be downgraded to the Free plan.

Q: Do unused tokens carry over?

A: No. Unused tokens do not carry over to the next cycle. Tokens reset at the start of each new cycle, and you receive your plan's full allocation.

Q: Can I get a refund?

A: We don't offer refunds for partial months. However, you can cancel your subscription and retain access until the end of your billing period.

Q: What happens if I cancel my subscription?

A: You'll be downgraded to the Free plan. Any remaining tokens from your paid plan are lost. You'll receive 300 tokens on the Free plan at the next cycle.

Q: Can I purchase additional tokens?

A: Yes, but only on the Basic plan. Basic plan users can purchase +200 tokens for €1. Pro and Business plans include sufficient tokens and cannot purchase top-ups.

Q: How are tokens charged?

A: Tokens are deducted after a successful operation. If an operation fails, no tokens are charged. You can see estimated costs before running operations.

Technical Questions

Q: Why is my analysis slow?

A: Analysis should complete in under 1 second for most texts. If you experience slow analysis:

Check your internet connection
Try a shorter text first
The first request for a new language may take a few seconds (model loading)
Contact support if the issue persists

Note: As of v4.0.1, analysis performance was significantly improved by optimizing model loading.

Q: What happens if I run out of tokens?

A: You'll see an "Insufficient tokens" error. Options:

Wait for cycle reset (if close to cycle end)
Purchase top-up (Basic plan only: +200 tokens for €1)
Upgrade to a higher plan
Reduce text length or entity selection

Q: How do I use the API?

Go to Settings → Developer tab (Basic+ plans)
View or generate your API token
Copy the token (starts with eyJ...)
Use in API requests: Authorization: Bearer YOUR_TOKEN
See API documentation in your account dashboard for complete details

Q: What's the API rate limit?

A: API rate limits are based on your token balance. There are no hard rate limits beyond token availability.

Q: Can I integrate anonymize.today into my application?

A: Yes! The API allows full integration. See API documentation in your account dashboard for complete details. API access requires Basic+ plans.

Q: How do I test my custom entity patterns?

Create your entity with patterns
Use the built-in pattern tester
Provide positive and negative examples
Review quality metrics (precision, recall, overall score)
Refine patterns based on test results

For AI-powered entities, the wizard includes testing in Step 3.

Security Questions

Q: How secure is my data?

A: anonymize.today implements comprehensive security measures:

Encryption: AES-256-GCM (at rest), TLS 1.3 (in transit)
Authentication: Multi-factor authentication (2FA) support
Compliance: ISO 27001:2022 compliant, GDPR-ready
No Data Storage: Your text is processed in real-time and not stored
Audit Logging: Complete audit trails for all operations

See Security Overview for details.

Q: Should I enable 2FA?

A: Yes! Two-factor authentication adds an extra layer of security. We recommend enabling 2FA, especially if you process sensitive data.

Q: How do I enable 2FA?

Go to Settings → Security tab
Choose a method:
- Authenticator App (recommended): Scan QR code
- Email Verification: Receive codes via email
Save backup codes securely
Enable 2FA

See Two-Factor Authentication for detailed instructions.

Q: What should I do if I see an unknown session?

Review the session details (device, location, last active)
If you don't recognize it, click "Revoke" immediately
Change your password
Enable 2FA if not already enabled
Use "Revoke All Other Sessions" if you suspect unauthorized access

Q: How do I manage my active sessions?

Go to Settings → Security tab
Scroll to "Active Sessions" section
View all active sessions with device and location info
Revoke individual sessions or all other sessions

See User Guide for details.

Q: What happens to my sessions when I change my password?

A: All active sessions are automatically revoked when you change your password. You'll need to sign in again on all devices.

Q: Is my payment information secure?

A: Yes. All payments are processed via PCI-DSS compliant providers (PayPal, Stripe). We never store your full card details. All payment data is encrypted and handled securely.

Still Have Questions?

User Guide: User Guide - Complete user documentation
Quick Start: Quick Start - Get started in 5 minutes
Support: Visit anonymize.today/support
Contact: Email [email protected]

FAQ & Support