CV anonymisation software for recruitment agencies
FormaCV anonymises candidate CVs in one click — removing names, photos, contact details, age, and gender while keeping every signal your client needs to evaluate fit. Anonymisation is included in the $0.99 per-CV price on every plan, with GDPR-aligned defaults and a full audit log. Format and anonymise a CV in about 60 seconds.
Included on every plan — no enterprise gate.
Automatically remove candidate contact details from CVs
Every CV that leaves your agency with a phone number or email address on it is a risk — to candidate privacy and to your placement. FormaCV automatically detects and removes candidate contact details before the CV reaches your client:
Phone numbers, email addresses, and home addresses stripped automatically — no manual redaction
Names replaced with "Candidate A" or initials; photos removed
LinkedIn URLs and personal websites removed, so the conversation stays with your agency
Your agency branding and contact details on the CV instead
The full CV stays on file — released to the client once the interview is confirmed
How it works
Step 1
Toggle "Anonymise"
Toggle anonymisation when formatting any CV.
Step 2
Choose what to strip
Pick which PII to remove — default is the GDPR-safe set.
Step 3
Get two versions
FormaCV produces (a) the full CV for your records, (b) the anonymised CV for client submission.
Step 4
Audit log
Every anonymisation is recorded in the audit log — included on every plan.
What FormaCV anonymises
PII field
Default
Why
Full name
Replaced with "Candidate A" or initials
Reduces affinity bias
Photo
Removed
Reduces beauty + age bias
Phone, email, address
Removed
GDPR + bias
Age, date of birth
Removed
Age discrimination
Gender / pronouns
Optional
Gender bias
Nationality, marital status
Removed
Discrimination risk
University name
Optional (toggle off for blind hiring)
Affinity bias
Employment dates
Kept
Essential for evaluation
Skills, experience, achievements
Kept
The actual signal
How it compares to competitors
Tool
Anonymisation
Audit log
Re-reveal control
FormaCV
Yes — configurable per template
Yes — every plan
Yes — gated by interview stage
HireAra
Yes
Limited
No
Allsorter
Yes
Yes
Limited
Quibench
Yes — core feature, GDPR-led
Yes
Limited
ai.r Recruit
Core feature
Yes
Yes — full PII vault
How do recruitment agencies anonymise a CV before sending it to a client?
Recruitment agencies anonymise CVs for two reasons: compliance and protecting the placement. On the compliance side, GDPR data minimisation and blind-hiring mandates require removing personally identifiable information — name, photo, age, gender, nationality — before a CV is shared. On the commercial side, an anonymised CV protects the agency's introduction: removing the candidate's phone number, email address, and LinkedIn URL means the client evaluates the candidate through you, and the engagement — and the fee — stays with your agency. Manually redacting both sets of fields takes 10–15 minutes per CV and is easy to get wrong; one missed email address in a footer undoes the whole exercise. FormaCV automates it: toggle anonymise, choose which fields to strip, and the software produces a blind CV in your agency template in about 60 seconds — with the full version retained for your records and every action recorded in the audit log.
Use cases
Agency protection — blind CVs keep the introduction, and the fee, with your agency
Government and public sector — required by procurement
Financial services — increasingly required by FCA / SEC compliance teams
Diversity-led hiring programmes — match the anonymised shortlist to interview
Premium client mandates — clients who demand blind submissions
GDPR data minimisation — share only what is needed
Frequently Asked Questions
What is CV anonymisation software?
CV anonymisation software automatically removes personally identifiable information — name, photo, contact details, age, gender — from a candidate CV before it is shared with a client. FormaCV builds anonymisation into the formatting step, so the blind CV comes out already in your agency-branded, ATS-safe template.
Is anonymisation included on every FormaCV plan?
Yes — anonymisation, audit log, user management, and unlimited templates are all standard on every plan, included in the $0.99 per-CV price.
How do I automatically remove contact details from a CV?
Upload the CV, toggle anonymise, and FormaCV detects and strips phone numbers, email addresses, home addresses, LinkedIn URLs, and personal websites automatically — wherever they appear, including headers and footers. No manual redaction.
Why do recruitment agencies anonymise CVs before sending them to clients?
Two reasons: GDPR-aligned blind hiring, and protecting the introduction. Removing the candidate's contact details ensures the client engages with the candidate through the agency, so the placement — and the fee — is not bypassed.
Does anonymisation affect ATS parsing?
No. The anonymised CV remains structured and ATS-safe. Your client's ATS still parses it correctly.
Can I un-anonymise a CV later?
Yes — the original full CV is kept separately and can be released to your client when the interview is confirmed. Re-reveal control is included on every plan.
Does FormaCV anonymisation meet GDPR requirements?
Yes — GDPR data minimisation principles are built into the default settings, candidate data is hosted with EU data residency, and FormaCV signs DPAs. See our security page for full compliance details.
Can I configure custom anonymisation rules per client?
Yes — per-template configuration is included on every plan. For example, one client requires university kept, another requires it stripped. Each client can have its own template.