Redact interviews and transcripts
To code, summarize, or find themes with AI, first remove the personal data from the document: that way you protect its confidentiality.
Your document is not passed to any AI: it does not leave your computer and is not uploaded or stored. The name detector runs inside your browser. You can check it: after the first document, disconnect from the internet and it keeps working.
Options
Document language:
Citations of published works (“(Smith, 2019)” and the reference list) stay as they are. Turn it off for a blind review.
An italic paragraph, in the document’s language, that explains to the AI what the codes in brackets are and asks it not to try to guess the data.
Do you already have a HILO lookup table (from a dataset or another document)? Load it and the same people and data keep their codes.
First time using the anonymizer? To process your document without it leaving your phone, HILO has to download, only once, the dictionaries and files it needs (about 140 MB). We recommend using Wi-Fi. On a phone, the process may take longer than on a computer.
Do not close this tab.
People
ID numbers, phone numbers, and emails
Uncheck what you do not want to replace. The names you see here do not leave your computer.
To review
If you do not review them, they are covered anyway. Review them so you do not cover words that are not data.
Before downloading, look at this
These words were left in the anonymized document and could be people or data. Replace the ones that are.
An interview ready to code with AI
1. Load it
Load the transcript in Word, .txt, or PDF.
2. Review
Review names, nicknames, and places; if you have the table from a previous interview, load it.
3. Use it with AI
Use the text to code, summarize, or find themes.
First names, nicknames, and people mentioned
In a transcript people are named the way they speak: by first name, by a nickname, by a coworker’s or boss’s name, by the street or the school. HILO looks for names also in informal speech and in lowercase text, and replaces each person with their code throughout the interview.
To keep the same code for the same person across several interviews, load the previous lookup table in “Options”.
What gets covered in an interview
What would reveal who spoke or who is being talked about:
- the names of the interviewee and the interviewer;
- first names and nicknames of people mentioned;
- phone numbers or emails said out loud;
- IDs and addresses.
Places, organizations, and roles stay: if one identifies too much, cover it during the review.
What you can ask the AI with the anonymized interview
What each person said is still complete:
- suggest codes and themes;
- find quotes on a theme;
- compare what different people say;
- summarize each interview in one page.
Documents worth anonymizing before using AI
Plans
Start free. When you want more, subscribe or buy hilos on their own.
- Keyword search, coding, and annotating, with no limit
- Unlimited downloads of the edited document
- Error diagnostics and tools for datasets
- Topic and code summaries
- Kappa calculator
- AI features (concept maps, assisted coding, checklist, logic model, variable operationalization), with your hilos
- Anonymize documents: 1 without an account, 5 per week with your account (ES · EN · PT)
- 325 hilos per week for AI features (renewed every Monday at 00:00 UTC)
- Change tracking (redline)
- Change history and traceability
- Anonymize documents: 50 per week (ES · EN · PT)
Payment is processed by Paddle. HILO doesn't see or store your card details.
The week renews on Monday. Each anonymized document you download counts once per file.
Yes: each person has their code throughout the transcript, including the speaker labels.
Yes: load the lookup table from the previous interview and the same people keep their codes.
Word, PDF with text, .odt, and .txt.
It looks for names in informal speech too. An unusual nickname may show up for review or in the final check: you decide there.
Yes, if you export it to Word or .txt. Speaker names are replaced like everything else.