Replace the names with codes, the same way every time ANON
Hashing a name does not anonymise it: there are only so many names, and anybody can hash all of them. A keyed hash cannot be reversed without the key, and is stable across every file.
The data
Read in this tab. Nothing is uploaded.
The key
Generated on this device and never stored with the data. Same key, same codes, across files and across years. A new key produces entirely different codes, which is how one release is separated from another.
Keep it somewhere the data is not. Without it you cannot re-link anything to anything. With it, anybody can re-identify everybody. Both of those are properties of the method rather than faults in it.
Which columns
What is left identifying
The result
How it works
ANON replaces names and other identifiers in a CSV with codes made by a keyed hash, the same code every time for the same value, so records can still be matched but cannot be reversed without the key. The result is pseudonymised, not anonymous. Lose the key and the codes cannot be turned back. Your data stays in this tab.
Doing this often? OBSCURA Research replaces names in transcripts with consistent pseudonyms, and codes them on this device. On its own, US$4 a month; with everything else, US$9 a month or US$79 a year. 7 days free.