These articles explain how to share a file with an AI service, a contractor, a partner, or anyone else without handing over the real values. Each one starts from a problem you may have today.
- Getting started
What DataAttendant is, and why we built it
DataAttendant prepares CSV and Excel files for AI tools and other outside recipients. It replaces or removes confidential values in your browser. This page explains the problem, what the tool does and does not do, and the choices behind it.7 min read - Getting started
How DataAttendant works, step by step
What happens to your file from the moment you open it to the moment you restore the answer: how sensitive values are found, what each treatment does, what is checked before export, and where your keys and records are kept.10 min read - Protecting a file
How to remove personal details from a spreadsheet before you use an AI assistant
A step-by-step method for finding and removing the values that identify people in a CSV or Excel file, including the ones that are easy to miss, and for checking what is left.8 min read - Files and formats
Which files DataAttendant can open, and what happens to each kind
DataAttendant opens CSV and text tables and Excel workbooks. This guide explains what each format is, how the tool reads it, what to do when characters or columns look wrong, and what an older or protected Excel file needs first.7 min read - Protecting a file
Replacing real names with consistent stand-ins so your analysis still works
How to replace names, customer numbers and other identifiers with stand-ins that stay the same wherever the real value appears, and the mistakes that break the count or reveal more than you meant.7 min read - Protecting a file
Putting the original values back after an AI answers
How to protect a file, get an answer from an AI assistant, and turn the stand-ins in that answer back into the real names and values on your own computer. Covers what can be restored, what cannot, and what goes wrong.7 min read Hidden data in Excel files: what a workbook holds that you cannot see
- Law and terms
What data should not go into an external AI tool
A practical guide to the kinds of data that need a decision before they are pasted or uploaded to an AI assistant, what happens to what you submit, and what to do instead.8 min read - Law and terms
Masking, pseudonymizing, anonymizing and encrypting: what each one means and what it cannot do
Five words are often used as if they meant the same thing. This guide explains how masking, hashing, pseudonymization, anonymization and encryption differ, which can be reversed, and what the law says about each.9 min read - Protecting a file
Using an AI assistant on your bank statements without sharing your private details
An AI assistant can show you where your money goes, and it does not need your account number or the names of the people you pay. This guide shows what to leave out of a bank statement, step by step, and how to check the file before you upload it.6 min read - Protecting a file
Sharing donor, member and client lists with a volunteer or an AI tool: what to remove first
Charities and other non-profits hold lists of people who trust them. This guide shows what an analysis of a donor, member or client list really needs, what to take out before the file leaves your organization, and which questions to ask first.7 min read - Protecting a file
Preparing case and citizen data for analysis in a public body: what to remove before a file leaves your system
Public bodies hold records about people who had no choice about being in them. This guide shows what an analysis of a case, service or request file really needs, what to remove before the file goes to an AI tool or another team, and which questions to ask first.8 min read