How-to
How to redact a bank statement before using AI
Remove what identifies the account holder and keep what the task needs. Replace the name, address, account and card numbers, and the names of people in transfers; keep amounts, dates and transaction categories if the AI is analyzing spending or income. US court rules allow only the last four digits of an account number in filings. Amounts are still sensitive: Canada's privacy commissioner says income records are almost always considered sensitive, so share only the period the task needs.
Last reviewed · 2 sources
What to replace and what to keep
| Element | For AI analysis | Reason |
|---|---|---|
| Account holder name and address | Replace | Direct identifiers |
| Account, transit and card numbers | Replace | Identifying numbers; enable fraud |
| Names in e-transfers and cheques | Replace | Third parties are identified too |
| Employer name in payroll deposits | Replace | Narrows the person down |
| Amounts and balances | Keep if the task needs them | Usually the point of the analysis |
| Dates and merchant categories | Keep if the task needs them | Needed for budgets and income tests |
What the rules say
US Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 5.2 lets a filing include only "the last four digits of the financial-account number". The Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada says that while any information can be sensitive, "medical records and income records" are "almost always considered to be sensitive".
The practical reading: account numbers go, always. Amounts can stay when the task depends on them, which is common in family, tax and immigration work, but send only the months that matter.
Watch for
- Statement headers repeated on every page
- Reference numbers that embed the account number
- Scanned statements where OCR misreads digits
- Transfer memos that name people or places
Where PiBye fits
How PiBye handles this
PiBye replaces names, addresses, card numbers and IBANs on your Mac, including in scanned statements, and leaves amounts and dates readable so the AI can do the analysis. Domestic account and transit numbers are not a dedicated detector yet, so check for them in review; if one remains that you cannot resolve there, correct the source and import it again rather than sharing the copy.
1.0.1 · macOS 14.8.5 or later · Apple Silicon · 1.1 GB
Frequently asked questions
Should I round the amounts?
If the task only needs ranges, yes: generalizing amounts reduces sensitivity. If it needs exact totals, keep them and limit the period instead.
Is the last four digits of an account number safe to keep?
US court rules allow it in filings. For AI analysis it adds nothing, so replace the whole number.
Sources
- Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, Rule 5.2: privacy protection for filings made with the court, Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School. Checked 25 September 2026.
- Interpretation bulletin: sensitive information, Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada. Checked 25 September 2026.