Paper Scrubber

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

A free tool from KVEC

Don't take our word for it — after your first scrub, turn the Wi-Fi off. Everything still works, because the work never leaves this machine. How it protects student privacy

  1. 1
    Add the papersDrop in one — or your whole class set at once.
  2. 2
    It scrubs each oneNames, addresses, phones, birthdays… all replaced.
  3. 3
    Check & saveFix anything it got wrong, then download.

Word .docx comes back as Word, with your formatting intact. .pdf, photos, and plain .txt come back as text. Scans and photos work when the paper is typed — handwriting can't be read. Selecting a whole class set at once is the fast way — click one file, then press Ctrl+A (⌘A on a Mac).

The first scrub downloads the scrubber once (64 MB) and keeps it on this computer. After that it runs with the Wi-Fi off — papers are never uploaded anywhere.

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. 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.
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 shareInstall Paper Scrubber. In Safari: File → Add to Dock.
  • Wait for the green line. The front page tells you when everything — app and AI — is saved on the device: “✅ Road-ready.” 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.