🔒 @coffeeandfun/remove-pii

Protect privacy by removing personally identifiable information (PII) from text!

@coffeeandfun/remove-pii is a powerful Node.js package designed to help with privacy by automatically detecting and removing personally identifiable information from text. Originally developed for Helperbird.com, this module has evolved into a comprehensive tool for protecting privacy in text processing.

Created by Robert James Gabriel at Coffee & Fun LLC - making the web more accessible and privacy-focused for everyone.

🎯 Why Use This?

For Privacy Protection:

• ✅ Automatically removes sensitive information
• ✅ Prevents accidental data leaks
• ✅ GDPR and privacy compliance helper
• ✅ Customizable for different use cases

For Developers:

• ✅ Easy integration (just 1 line of code!)
• ✅ Lightweight and fast
• ✅ Comprehensive PII detection
• ✅ Detailed analysis and reporting

📦 Installation

npm install @coffeeandfun/remove-pii

🏃‍♂️ Quick Start

import { removePII } from '@coffeeandfun/remove-pii';

const text = "John's email is [email protected] and his phone number is 123-456-7890.";
const cleanedText = removePII(text);

console.log(cleanedText);
// Output: "John's email is [email removed] and his phone number is [phone removed]."

🛡️ PII Types Detected

• 📧 Email Addresses - [email protected]
• 📞 Phone Numbers - 123-456-7890, (555) 123-4567
• 🆔 Social Security Numbers - 123-45-6789
• 💳 Credit Card Numbers - 1234 5678 9012 3456
• 🏠 Physical Addresses - 123 Main Street
• 📋 Passport Numbers - AB1234567
• 🚗 Driver's License Numbers - D123456789
• 🌐 IP Addresses - 192.168.1.1
• 📮 ZIP Codes - 12345, 12345-6789
• 🏦 Bank Account Numbers - 1234567890123456
• 🔗 URLs - https://example.com
• 📅 Dates of Birth - 01/15/1990

📚 API Reference

removePII(text, options)

Main function that removes PII and returns cleaned text.

const cleanedText = removePII("Email: [email protected], Phone: 123-456-7890");
// Returns: "Email: [email removed], Phone: [phone removed]"

removePIIDetailed(text, options)

Enhanced version with detailed information about what was removed.

const result = removePIIDetailed("Email: [email protected]");
console.log(result);
// {
//   cleanedText: "Email: [email removed]",
//   removedItems: [{ type: 'email', count: 1, items: ['[email protected]'] }],
//   originalLength: 23,
//   cleanedLength: 20,
//   reductionPercentage: 13
// }

detectPII(text, options)

Detects PII without removing it - useful for analysis.

const analysis = detectPII("Email: [email protected], Phone: 123-456-7890");
console.log(analysis);
// {
//   text: "Email: [email protected], Phone: 123-456-7890",
//   hasPII: true,
//   totalMatches: 2,
//   types: ['email', 'phone'],
//   detectedItems: [...]
// }

analyzePII(text, options)

Comprehensive analysis with statistics and risk assessment.

const analysis = analyzePII("Email: [email protected], SSN: 123-45-6789");
console.log(analysis);
// {
//   original: { text: "...", length: 45, wordCount: 6 },
//   cleaned: { text: "...", length: 35, wordCount: 6 },
//   pii: { detected: [...], totalCount: 2, types: ['email', 'ssn'] },
//   risk: { level: 'medium', score: 13 }
// }

validatePIICompliance(text, options)

Check if text is PII-compliant with recommendations.

const compliance = validatePIICompliance("Email: [email protected]");
console.log(compliance);
// {
//   isCompliant: false,
//   violations: [{ type: 'email', count: 1 }],
//   riskLevel: 'low',
//   recommendations: ['📧 Email detected - Consider using hashed emails']
// }

🎨 Customization

Basic Configuration

const options = {
  email: { remove: true, replacement: "[EMAIL HIDDEN]" },
  phone: { remove: false },
  ssn: { remove: true, replacement: "[SSN REDACTED]" }
};

const cleaned = removePII(text, options);

Privacy Levels

High Privacy Mode

const highPrivacy = {
  email: { remove: true },
  phone: { remove: true },
  ssn: { remove: true },
  creditCard: { remove: true },
  address: { remove: true },
  passport: { remove: true },
  driversLicense: { remove: true },
  ipAddress: { remove: true },
  zipCode: { remove: true },
  bankAccount: { remove: true },
  url: { remove: true },
  dateOfBirth: { remove: true }
};

Moderate Privacy Mode

const moderatePrivacy = {
  ssn: { remove: true },
  creditCard: { remove: true },
  bankAccount: { remove: true },
  email: { remove: false },
  phone: { remove: false },
  address: { remove: true }
};

Custom Replacements

const customReplacements = {
  email: { replacement: "📧 [CONTACT INFO]" },
  phone: { replacement: "📞 [PHONE NUMBER]" },
  address: { replacement: "🏠 [LOCATION]" }
};

🔧 Advanced Features

Batch Processing

import { processBatch } from '@coffeeandfun/remove-pii';

const texts = [
  "Email: [email protected]",
  "Phone: 123-456-7890",
  "Regular text"
];

const results = processBatch(texts);
console.log(results);
// Array of results with success/failure status

Risk Assessment

const compliance = validatePIICompliance(text);
console.log(`Risk Level: ${compliance.riskLevel}`);
console.log(`Risk Score: ${compliance.riskScore}`);
console.log(`Recommendations: ${compliance.recommendations.join(', ')}`);

Available PII Types

import { getAvailableTypes } from '@coffeeandfun/remove-pii';

const types = getAvailableTypes();
types.forEach(type => {
  console.log(`${type.type}: ${type.description}`);
});

🎭 Real-World Examples

Data Cleaning Pipeline

import { removePII, validatePIICompliance } from '@coffeeandfun/remove-pii';

function cleanUserData(userData) {
  const compliance = validatePIICompliance(userData);
  
  if (!compliance.isCompliant) {
    console.log(`⚠️ PII detected: ${compliance.violationCount} violations`);
    return removePII(userData);
  }
  
  return userData;
}

Log Sanitization

import { removePIIDetailed } from '@coffeeandfun/remove-pii';

function sanitizeLogs(logEntry) {
  const result = removePIIDetailed(logEntry);
  
  if (result.removedItems.length > 0) {
    console.log(`🔒 Sanitized log: removed ${result.removedItems.length} PII items`);
  }
  
  return result.cleanedText;
}

API Response Cleaning

import { analyzePII } from '@coffeeandfun/remove-pii';

function sanitizeApiResponse(response) {
  const analysis = analyzePII(JSON.stringify(response));
  
  if (analysis.pii.totalCount > 0) {
    console.log(`⚠️ API response contains PII: ${analysis.pii.types.join(', ')}`);
    return JSON.parse(analysis.cleaned.text);
  }
  
  return response;
}

🧪 Testing

npm test

We've included comprehensive tests covering:

• ✅ All PII types and patterns
• ✅ Edge cases and error handling
• ✅ Performance and consistency
• ✅ Batch processing
• ✅ Custom configurations

🤝 Contributing

We welcome contributions!

1. 🐛 Report Issues - Found a bug or missing PII type?
2. 💡 Suggest Features - Ideas for better privacy protection?
3. 🔧 Submit PRs - Code improvements welcome!

Development Setup

git clone https://github.com/RobertJGabriel/remove-pii
cd remove-pii
npm install
npm test

📄 License

MIT License - feel free to use in your projects!

🙏 Credits

Created with ❤️ by:

• Robert James Gabriel - Lead Developer

Originally developed for:

• Helperbird - An accessibility extension making the web accessible for everyone

📞 Support

Need help protecting privacy in your applications?

• 🐛 Bug Reports: GitHub Issues
• 💡 Feature Requests: GitHub Discussions

Stay privacy-focused! 🔒