Paper Scrubber

Take the student out of the paper — before the paper goes to an AI.

A free tool from KVEC

How it protects student privacy

  1. 1
    Add the papersOne, or a whole class set.
  2. 2
    It scrubs each oneNames, addresses, phones, birthdays… all replaced.
  3. 3
    Check & saveFix anything it got wrong, then download.

Word, PDF, photos, and plain text all work — typed pages, not handwriting.

The first scrub sets up once — give it a minute. Your papers never leave this computer.

How it works

  1. Feed it papers. Paste one, or drop Word, PDF, or photo files anywhere on the page — a whole class set at once is the fast way (in the file window, click one file, then Ctrl+A — ⌘A on a Mac). On a phone, tap 📷 Take a photo and shoot the page straight on.
  2. Let it scrub. The first scrub downloads the scrubber once (give it a minute); after that it works with the Wi-Fi off. Every personal detail becomes a tag like [NAME 1], and the same kid gets the same tag in every paper of a set.
  3. Be the last set of eyes. Book characters get flagged too — the scrubber has no idea Atticus Finch isn't in your third period — so click any highlight (or Tab to it and press Enter) to put that word back. No tool catches everything; you're the teacher for a reason.
  4. Send it to the AI. Copy the scrubbed text into ChatGPT, Claude, or Gemini and ask for feedback, a rubric check, or revision ideas. Word files can also come back as real Word files, formatting intact.
  5. Put the names back. When the reply says "Nice hook, [NAME 1]!", paste it into the box at the bottom of the review screen and the real names return — on your device, like everything else. Exact tags only — if the AI reworded one, fix it by hand.
Take it on the road (IEP reviews, home visits, no-signal buildings)
  • Install it like an app, once, on Wi-Fi: on Windows or a Chromebook, open this page in Chrome or Edge and click the install icon at the right end of the address bar (or this page's Install as an app button). On a Mac, use Chrome: puzzle-piece/⋮ menu → Cast, save and share → Install Paper Scrubber. In Safari: File → Add to Dock.
  • Wait for the top line to turn green: “Works offline — everything is saved on this device.” After that, airplane mode changes nothing.
  • It gets its own icon and window, like any program. Updates arrive by themselves next time the laptop is online.
The neighbor test — what the tool can't judge for you
  • The bar for truly de-identified school records is: could a neighbor who knows the family recognize this student? Names, numbers, and schools are the tool's job. Combinations are yours — “a seventh grader at a small school who uses a wheelchair” can identify a child with every name scrubbed.
  • That's why diagnoses, medications, and grade levels come back underlined, not scrubbed — an AI usually needs them to help (an IEP without the diagnosis is useless), but in a small school they can point at one kid. One click scrubs any of them; the category chips scrub all at once.
  • Before sharing anything from an IEP or eval, scan for: the only student who… (sport, instrument, disability, family situation), sibling references, church or team names, a parent's workplace.
  • Working with IEPs or eval reports? Use the De-Identifier — the staff version of this tool, with a second AI dedicated to exactly those contextual details.
Good to know
  • Nothing leaves the machine. Don't take our word for it — after your first scrub, turn the Wi-Fi off and keep scrubbing.
  • Photos and scans work when the paper is typed. Handwriting comes back as alphabet soup, and the app will say so.
  • Downloading a paper? It saves under its tag (NAME-4-scrubbed.docx) so the file name doesn't announce the student. A WHO-IS-WHO key comes with a batch — keep it, don't send it.
  • Something it missed, or an idea? Email alex@theholler.org. There's also a plain-English privacy page to forward to your principal.