Is there a quick way to remove personal information from TMs?

Question

We have a few TMs with lots of personal information we'd like to remove, is there a quick way of doing this? We're talking about names, phone numbers, file and account numbers, addresses..

Jerzy Czopik · Answer

Depends where the information is stored. If these are TM fields, it should be possible to create a specific filter and delete / replace them in a batch. 
However, if these personal data is within the segment text, you would need to have a specific pattern for such information (not that hard for phone numbers for example - you could use a regex on that) to have it searched and replaced also in a batch. 
So it is possible, however the amount of work needed to do that will strongly depend on what do you want to delete. 
In any case - to be able to perform batch tasks on a TM, open this TM in the Translation memory view. You can then even close the TM from editing, but it will remain listed on the left in the navigation pane, where you can use batch tasks by right clicking. If you need a filter, you will need to create it and store it in the editing view, thoug.

Paul · Answer

Hi Michel, 
 
Perhaps this is the app you need? 
 
 appstore.sdl.com/.../ 
 
Regards 
 
Paul

Paul · Answer

I guess, seeing as you even wish to go further than the TMX Anonymizer app will go (that will remove the field attributes but not content inside a TU), that a manual exercise is the way to go. If it was me I'd do this: 
 
 Export to TMX 
 Search & Replace using regular expressions for appropriate patterns [A-Z]\S* (will find proper nouns... but also false positives as you mentioned so would need manually checking each one) [A-Z]\S*\s[A-Z]\S* (will find Paul Filkin for example as it looks for two words together, so more likely to be someones name, but still needs checking) Tel[:\s+\d()]* (just an example of something to find possible telephone numbers) 
 
 So a bit of a manual exercise but it might be the sort of thing you are looking for? Alternatively use the search features in Studio in the TM Maintenance View and delete any TUs altogether that contain personal information. 
 Just an idea... 
 Paul

Paul · Answer

Hello Michel, 
 In truth this works on TMX files so probably doesn't matter what version of Studio you have. However, you might need what's listed to allow it to be downloaded in the first place so best to ask Tom Imhof (the developer) if he needs to update the app record or whether it is restricted to Studio 2011 and below.

Trados Studio > 1. Trados Studio

Is there a quick way to remove personal information from TMs?

Top Replies