ai4privacy 0.3.3

A package to mask PII in text using transformers

ai4privacy python module 🛡️

A Python package for state-of-the-art PII detection and masking using advanced transformer models.

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Features

• Protect Mode: Anonymize text by replacing detected PII with placeholders.
• Observe Mode: Get statistics and a detailed "privacy mask" of found PII without altering the original text.
• Multiple Models: Built-in support for:
  • English-specific detection.
  • Multilingual detection.
  • Categorical detection (e.g., GIVENNAME, EMAIL, CITY).
• Tunable Sensitivity: An adjustable score_threshold to balance detection accuracy with false positives.
• Verbose & Developer Modes: Rich outputs for detailed analysis and debugging.

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Installation

pip install ai4privacy

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Quick Start

The simplest way to use the library is to call the protect function, which masks PII with placeholders.

from ai4privacy import protect

text = "Email me at [e-mail] or call me at [phone]."
masked_text = protect(text)

print(masked_text)
# Expected Output: Email me at [PII_1] or call me at [PII_2]

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Advanced Usage

Using Different Models

You can easily switch between models using the multilingual and classify_pii flags.

from ai4privacy import protect

text = "Je m'appelle Pierre et j'habite à Paris."

# Use the multilingual model for non-English text
masked_multilingual = protect(text, multilingual=True)
print(f"Multilingual: {masked_multilingual}")
# Expected Output: Multilingual: Je m'appelle [PII_1] et j'habite à [PII_2]

# Use the categorical model to see the PII types
details = protect(text, classify_pii=True, verbose=True)
print(f"Categorical Labels: {[r['label'] for r in details['replacements']]}")
# Expected Output: Categorical Labels: ['GIVENNAME', 'CITY']

Observe Mode

To analyze text without changing it, use observe(). It returns a dictionary containing statistics and the privacy_mask—a detailed list of all PII entities found.

from ai4privacy import observe
import json

text = "My name is Alice and I live in Berlin."
report = observe(text, classify_pii=True)

print(json.dumps(report, indent=2))

{
  "num_texts_processed": 1,
  "num_texts_with_pii": 1,
  "pii_entity_counts": {
    "GIVENNAME": 1,
    "CITY": 1
  },
  "total_pii_entities_found": 2,
  "privacy_mask": [
    {
      "label": "GIVENNAME",
      "start": 11,
      "end": 16,
      "activation": 0.98,
      "value": "Alice"
    },
    {
      "label": "CITY",
      "start": 30,
      "end": 36,
      "activation": 0.99,
      "value": "Berlin"
    }
  ]
}

Verbose and Developer Modes

Set verbose=True to get a dictionary containing the original text, masked text, and replacement details. For deep debugging, developer_verbose=True adds a token-by-token breakdown of the model's predictions.

from ai4privacy import protect

text = "Senden Sie es an Eva Schmidt."
details = protect(text, classify_pii=True, verbose=True)

print(details['replacements'])
# Expected Output: [{'label': 'GIVENNAME', 'start': 18, 'end': 22, ...}, {'label': 'SURNAME', 'start': 23, 'end': 30, ...}]

Adjusting Sensitivity

The score_threshold (default: 0.01) controls how confident the model must be to flag a token as PII.

• A lower value increases sensitivity (finds more PII, but may have more false positives).
• A higher value increases precision (detections are more likely correct, but may miss some PII).

from ai4privacy import protect

text = "Maybe this is a name, maybe not. Contact John."

# High precision (less likely to flag "Maybe")
masked_high_prec = protect(text, score_threshold=0.5) 
print(f"High Precision: {masked_high_prec}")
# Expected Output: High Precision: Maybe this is a name, maybe not. Contact [PII_1]

# High sensitivity (more likely to flag "Maybe" if the model is unsure)
masked_high_sens = protect(text, score_threshold=0.001)
print(f"High Sensitivity: {masked_high_sens}")

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Disclaimer 📢

Ai4Privacy is trained on the world's largest open-source privacy dataset. For production use, please evaluate results carefully on your own datasets. For assistance, contact us at our website https://ai4privacy.com or email [e-mail].