Anonymizing an internship report or thesis: what to hide
A student report or thesis can expose real client names, figures and screenshots. See what to anonymize and how.
Anonymizing an internship report means hiding company data your reader does not need. Start with your internship agreement. It usually says what you can publish. Then work through every page, not just the text, because screenshots leak data too.
Take Jane Example, a marketing student at a mid-size company. Her final report describes a real campaign, with client names, a budget table, and screenshots from the company's ad dashboard. None of that belongs in a report her whole class will read.
What should you check before you write a word?
Most internship agreements include a confidentiality clause. It usually says you cannot share internal data with people outside the company, even after the internship ends. Ask your placement office and your company supervisor exactly what you may publish before you start writing. If nothing is written down, ask them to confirm it by email.
- Read the confidentiality clause in your internship agreement or contract.
- Ask your academic supervisor what your school allows in a public report.
- Ask your company contact which figures, names and screenshots you may keep.
- Check whether your school offers a restricted-access or embargo option for sensitive work.
What exactly should you anonymize?
Five things usually need to change: client and colleague names, exact figures such as revenue, screenshots of internal software, and org charts. Internal project codenames often need it too. A simple rule helps: if a stranger could use a detail to identify the company or a person, mask it.
- Client and partner company names
- Employee and colleague names, including your supervisor's
- Exact figures: revenue, prices, budgets, headcounts
- Screenshots of internal dashboards, CRMs, or intranets
- Org charts and internal project codenames
Which techniques actually work?
Three techniques cover most cases. Give the company a fictitious name, and use it every time, the same way a case study does. Replace an exact figure with a range, like ten to twenty thousand euros instead of one exact number. For a screenshot, crop out anything outside the topic and blur or block the rest, never just resize the image smaller.
| Element | Technique | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Company name | Replace with a fictitious name, used consistently | “TechCorp” instead of the real employer |
| Client name | Replace with a role or a letter | “Client A” instead of the real client |
| Exact figure | Use a range or an index | “10 to 20 percent growth” instead of the precise number |
| Screenshot | Crop, then blur or block the sensitive area | Keep the layout, hide names and numbers |
| Org chart | Keep titles, remove names | “Marketing Director” instead of a name |
For an appendix or a screenshot of an internal tool, ONYRI Sanitize can mask names, emails, phone numbers and company numbers directly in your browser. The file never leaves your computer. It does not, on its own, detect company names without a legal form, figures without a currency sign, or logos. Add those as a custom rule, or mask them by hand with the “Draw an area” tool once you open the document.
Confidential thesis or anonymized report: what's the difference?
Replacing a name with a role or a letter is pseudonymization, not full anonymization, and the two are not the same thing. The ICO explains that pseudonymised information is still personal data if someone could link it back to a person using other information. Your anonymized report is safer to share, but it is not automatically outside data protection law.
A confidential or restricted thesis is different again: your university blocks access to the whole, unedited document for a set period. In the UK, for example, Kent lets a student request a temporary embargo of one or three years. A permanent embargo applies when the material is too sensitive or extensive to redact.
What should you do right before you submit it?
- Re-read the confidentiality clause one last time.
- Search the document for the real company name and your contacts' names.
- Open every screenshot at full size and check nothing sensitive survived the crop.
- Ask your supervisor or company contact to read the final version.
- Export a clean copy and keep the original, unedited file somewhere private.
Frequently asked questions
Can I keep the real company name in my internship report?
Only if your agreement allows it and your company confirms it in writing. Many companies are fine with their name appearing, but not with client names, figures, or screenshots. When in doubt, ask, and keep the answer in writing.
Is changing a name in the text enough to anonymize a report?
No. A name can also sit in a screenshot, a chart title, a file name, or a document property such as the author field. Check the whole file, not only the paragraphs you wrote by hand.
Do I need permission to blur a screenshot from a company tool?
Ask first. A screenshot can already break a confidentiality clause even if you blur it afterward, because the original image still exists somewhere. Get your supervisor's approval, or recreate the screen with fake data instead.
How long does a thesis embargo usually last?
It depends on your country and your university. Kent, in the UK, offers a temporary embargo of one or three years. A permanent one applies to material too sensitive or extensive to redact, as its thesis guidance explains.
What happens if I already submitted an unedited report by mistake?
Contact your placement office and your company supervisor immediately. Ask whether the report can be withdrawn, replaced with an anonymized version, or placed under restricted access while a new copy is prepared.
Sources & references
- Introduction to anonymisationInformation Commissioner's Office (ICO)
- Redacting and restricting access to your thesisUniversity of Kent
- Guidelines 01/2025 on PseudonymisationEuropean Data Protection Board (EDPB)