Quickstart: Detect Personally Identifiable Information (PII)

Reference documentation | More samples | Package (NuGet) | Library source code

Use this quickstart to create a Personally Identifiable Information (PII) detection application with the client library for .NET. In the following example, you create a C# application that can identify recognized sensitive information in text.

Prerequisites

• Azure subscription - Create one for trial
• The Visual Studio IDE

Setting up

Create an Azure resource

To use the code sample below, you'll need to deploy an Azure resource. This resource will contain a key and endpoint you'll use to authenticate the API calls you send to the Language service.

1. Use the following link to create a language resource using the Azure portal. You will need to sign in using your Azure subscription.

2. On the Select additional features screen that appears, select Continue to create your resource.

   

3. In the Create language screen, provide the following information:

   Detail	Description
   Subscription	The subscription account that your resource will be associated with. Select your Azure subscription from the drop-down menu.
   Resource group	A resource group is a container that stores the resources you create. Select Create new to create a new resource group.
   Region	The location of your Language resource. Different regions may introduce latency depending on your physical location, but have no impact on the runtime availability of your resource. For this quickstart, either select an available region near you, or choose China East 2.
   Name	The name for your Language resource. This name will also be used to create an endpoint URL that your applications will use to send API requests.
   Pricing tier	The pricing tier for your Language resource. You can use the Free F0 tier to try the service and upgrade later to a paid tier for production.

   

4. Make sure the Responsible AI Notice checkbox is checked.

5. Select Review + Create at the bottom of the page.

6. In the screen that appears, make sure the validation has passed, and that you entered your information correctly. Then select Create.

Get your key and endpoint

Next you will need the key and endpoint from the resource to connect your application to the API. You'll paste your key and endpoint into the code later in the quickstart.

1. After the Language resource deploys successfully, click the Go to Resource button under Next Steps.

   

2. On the screen for your resource, select Keys and endpoint on the left navigation menu. You will use one of your keys and your endpoint in the steps below.

   

Create environment variables

Your application must be authenticated to send API requests. For production, use a secure way of storing and accessing your credentials. In this example, you will write your credentials to environment variables on the local machine running the application.

To set the environment variable for your Language resource key, open a console window, and follow the instructions for your operating system and development environment.

• To set the LANGUAGE_KEY environment variable, replace your-key with one of the keys for your resource.
• To set the LANGUAGE_ENDPOINT environment variable, replace your-endpoint with the endpoint for your resource.

setx LANGUAGE_KEY your-key

setx LANGUAGE_ENDPOINT your-endpoint

export LANGUAGE_KEY=your-key

export LANGUAGE_ENDPOINT=your-endpoint

export LANGUAGE_KEY=your-key

export LANGUAGE_ENDPOINT=your-endpoint

Create a new .NET Core application

Using the Visual Studio IDE, create a new .NET Core console app. This creates a "Hello World" project with a single C# source file: program.cs.

Install the client library by right-clicking on the solution in the Solution Explorer and selecting Manage NuGet Packages. In the package manager that opens select Browse and search for Azure.AI.TextAnalytics. Select version 5.2.0, and then Install. You can also use the Package Manager Console.

Code example

Copy the following code into your program.cs file and run the code.

using Azure;
using System;
using Azure.AI.TextAnalytics;

namespace Example
{
    class Program
    {
        // This example requires environment variables named "LANGUAGE_KEY" and "LANGUAGE_ENDPOINT"
        static string languageKey = Environment.GetEnvironmentVariable("LANGUAGE_KEY");
        static string languageEndpoint = Environment.GetEnvironmentVariable("LANGUAGE_ENDPOINT");

        private static readonly AzureKeyCredential credentials = new AzureKeyCredential(languageKey);
        private static readonly Uri endpoint = new Uri(languageEndpoint);

        // Example method for detecting sensitive information (PII) from text 
        static void RecognizePIIExample(TextAnalyticsClient client)
        {
            string document = "Call our office at 312-555-1234, or send an email to support@contoso.com.";
        
            PiiEntityCollection entities = client.RecognizePiiEntities(document).Value;
        
            Console.WriteLine($"Redacted Text: {entities.RedactedText}");
            if (entities.Count > 0)
            {
                Console.WriteLine($"Recognized {entities.Count} PII entit{(entities.Count > 1 ? "ies" : "y")}:");
                foreach (PiiEntity entity in entities)
                {
                    Console.WriteLine($"Text: {entity.Text}, Category: {entity.Category}, SubCategory: {entity.SubCategory}, Confidence score: {entity.ConfidenceScore}");
                }
            }
            else
            {
                Console.WriteLine("No entities were found.");
            }
        }

        static void Main(string[] args)
        {
            var client = new TextAnalyticsClient(endpoint, credentials);
            RecognizePIIExample(client);

            Console.Write("Press any key to exit.");
            Console.ReadKey();
        }

    }
}

Output

Redacted Text: Call our office at ************, or send an email to *******************.
Recognized 2 PII entities:
Text: 312-555-1234, Category: PhoneNumber, SubCategory: , Confidence score: 0.8
Text: support@contoso.com, Category: Email, SubCategory: , Confidence score: 0.8

Reference documentation | More samples | Package (Maven) | Library source code

Use this quickstart to create a Personally Identifiable Information (PII) detection application with the client library for Java. In the following example, you create a Java application that can identify recognized sensitive information in text.

Prerequisites

• Azure subscription - Create one for trial
• Java Development Kit (JDK) with version 8 or above

Setting up

Create an Azure resource

To use the code sample below, you'll need to deploy an Azure resource. This resource will contain a key and endpoint you'll use to authenticate the API calls you send to the Language service.

1. Use the following link to create a language resource using the Azure portal. You will need to sign in using your Azure subscription.

2. On the Select additional features screen that appears, select Continue to create your resource.

   

3. In the Create language screen, provide the following information:

   Detail	Description
   Subscription	The subscription account that your resource will be associated with. Select your Azure subscription from the drop-down menu.
   Resource group	A resource group is a container that stores the resources you create. Select Create new to create a new resource group.
   Region	The location of your Language resource. Different regions may introduce latency depending on your physical location, but have no impact on the runtime availability of your resource. For this quickstart, either select an available region near you, or choose China East 2.
   Name	The name for your Language resource. This name will also be used to create an endpoint URL that your applications will use to send API requests.
   Pricing tier	The pricing tier for your Language resource. You can use the Free F0 tier to try the service and upgrade later to a paid tier for production.

   

4. Make sure the Responsible AI Notice checkbox is checked.

5. Select Review + Create at the bottom of the page.

6. In the screen that appears, make sure the validation has passed, and that you entered your information correctly. Then select Create.

Get your key and endpoint

Next you will need the key and endpoint from the resource to connect your application to the API. You'll paste your key and endpoint into the code later in the quickstart.

1. After the Language resource deploys successfully, click the Go to Resource button under Next Steps.

   

2. On the screen for your resource, select Keys and endpoint on the left navigation menu. You will use one of your keys and your endpoint in the steps below.

   

Create environment variables

Your application must be authenticated to send API requests. For production, use a secure way of storing and accessing your credentials. In this example, you will write your credentials to environment variables on the local machine running the application.

To set the environment variable for your Language resource key, open a console window, and follow the instructions for your operating system and development environment.

• To set the LANGUAGE_KEY environment variable, replace your-key with one of the keys for your resource.
• To set the LANGUAGE_ENDPOINT environment variable, replace your-endpoint with the endpoint for your resource.

setx LANGUAGE_KEY your-key

setx LANGUAGE_ENDPOINT your-endpoint

export LANGUAGE_KEY=your-key

export LANGUAGE_ENDPOINT=your-endpoint

export LANGUAGE_KEY=your-key

export LANGUAGE_ENDPOINT=your-endpoint

Add the client library

Create a Maven project in your preferred IDE or development environment. Then add the following dependency to your project's pom.xml file. You can find the implementation syntax for other build tools online.

<dependencies>
     <dependency>
        <groupId>com.azure</groupId>
        <artifactId>azure-ai-textanalytics</artifactId>
        <version>5.2.0</version>
    </dependency>
</dependencies>

Code example

Create a Java file named Example.java. Open the file and copy the below code. Then run the code.

import com.azure.core.credential.AzureKeyCredential;
import com.azure.ai.textanalytics.models.*;
import com.azure.ai.textanalytics.TextAnalyticsClientBuilder;
import com.azure.ai.textanalytics.TextAnalyticsClient;

public class Example {

    // This example requires environment variables named "LANGUAGE_KEY" and "LANGUAGE_ENDPOINT"
    private static String languageKey = System.getenv("LANGUAGE_KEY");
    private static String languageEndpoint = System.getenv("LANGUAGE_ENDPOINT");

    public static void main(String[] args) {
        TextAnalyticsClient client = authenticateClient(languageKey, languageEndpoint);
        recognizePiiEntitiesExample(client);
    }
    // Method to authenticate the client object with your key and endpoint
    static TextAnalyticsClient authenticateClient(String key, String endpoint) {
        return new TextAnalyticsClientBuilder()
                .credential(new AzureKeyCredential(key))
                .endpoint(endpoint)
                .buildClient();
    }

    // Example method for detecting sensitive information (PII) from text 
    static void recognizePiiEntitiesExample(TextAnalyticsClient client)
    {
        // The text that need be analyzed.
        String document = "My SSN is 859-98-0987";
        PiiEntityCollection piiEntityCollection = client.recognizePiiEntities(document);
        System.out.printf("Redacted Text: %s%n", piiEntityCollection.getRedactedText());
        piiEntityCollection.forEach(entity -> System.out.printf(
            "Recognized Personally Identifiable Information entity: %s, entity category: %s, entity subcategory: %s,"
                + " confidence score: %f.%n",
            entity.getText(), entity.getCategory(), entity.getSubcategory(), entity.getConfidenceScore()));
    }
}

Output

Redacted Text: My SSN is ***********
Recognized Personally Identifiable Information entity: 859-98-0987, entity category: USSocialSecurityNumber, entity subcategory: null, confidence score: 0.650000.

Reference documentation | More samples | Package (npm) | Library source code

Use this quickstart to create a Personally Identifiable Information (PII) detection application with the client library for Node.js. In the following example, you create a JavaScript application that can identify recognized sensitive information in text.

Prerequisites

• Azure subscription - Create one for trial
• Node.js v14 LTS or later

Setting up

Create an Azure resource

To use the code sample below, you'll need to deploy an Azure resource. This resource will contain a key and endpoint you'll use to authenticate the API calls you send to the Language service.

1. Use the following link to create a language resource using the Azure portal. You will need to sign in using your Azure subscription.

2. On the Select additional features screen that appears, select Continue to create your resource.

   

3. In the Create language screen, provide the following information:

   Detail	Description
   Subscription	The subscription account that your resource will be associated with. Select your Azure subscription from the drop-down menu.
   Resource group	A resource group is a container that stores the resources you create. Select Create new to create a new resource group.
   Region	The location of your Language resource. Different regions may introduce latency depending on your physical location, but have no impact on the runtime availability of your resource. For this quickstart, either select an available region near you, or choose China East 2.
   Name	The name for your Language resource. This name will also be used to create an endpoint URL that your applications will use to send API requests.
   Pricing tier	The pricing tier for your Language resource. You can use the Free F0 tier to try the service and upgrade later to a paid tier for production.

   

4. Make sure the Responsible AI Notice checkbox is checked.

5. Select Review + Create at the bottom of the page.

6. In the screen that appears, make sure the validation has passed, and that you entered your information correctly. Then select Create.

Get your key and endpoint

Next you will need the key and endpoint from the resource to connect your application to the API. You'll paste your key and endpoint into the code later in the quickstart.

1. After the Language resource deploys successfully, click the Go to Resource button under Next Steps.

   

2. On the screen for your resource, select Keys and endpoint on the left navigation menu. You will use one of your keys and your endpoint in the steps below.

   

Create environment variables

Your application must be authenticated to send API requests. For production, use a secure way of storing and accessing your credentials. In this example, you will write your credentials to environment variables on the local machine running the application.

To set the environment variable for your Language resource key, open a console window, and follow the instructions for your operating system and development environment.

• To set the LANGUAGE_KEY environment variable, replace your-key with one of the keys for your resource.
• To set the LANGUAGE_ENDPOINT environment variable, replace your-endpoint with the endpoint for your resource.

setx LANGUAGE_KEY your-key

setx LANGUAGE_ENDPOINT your-endpoint

export LANGUAGE_KEY=your-key

export LANGUAGE_ENDPOINT=your-endpoint

export LANGUAGE_KEY=your-key

export LANGUAGE_ENDPOINT=your-endpoint

Create a new Node.js application

In a console window (such as cmd, PowerShell, or Bash), create a new directory for your app, and navigate to it.

mkdir myapp 

cd myapp

Run the npm init command to create a node application with a package.json file.

npm init

Install the client library

Install the npm package:

npm install @azure/ai-text-analytics

Code example

Open the file and copy the below code. Then run the code.

"use strict";

const { TextAnalyticsClient, AzureKeyCredential } = require("@azure/ai-text-analytics");

// This example requires environment variables named "LANGUAGE_KEY" and "LANGUAGE_ENDPOINT"
const key = process.env.LANGUAGE_KEY;
const endpoint = process.env.LANGUAGE_ENDPOINT;

//an example document for pii recognition
const documents = [ "The employee's phone number is (555) 555-5555." ];

async function main() {
    console.log(`PII recognition sample`);
  
    const client = new TextAnalyticsClient(endpoint, new AzureKeyCredential(key));
  
    const documents = ["My phone number is 555-555-5555"];
  
    const [result] = await client.analyze("PiiEntityRecognition", documents, "en");
  
    if (!result.error) {
      console.log(`Redacted text: "${result.redactedText}"`);
      console.log("Pii Entities: ");
      for (const entity of result.entities) {
        console.log(`\t- "${entity.text}" of type ${entity.category}`);
      }
    }
}

main().catch((err) => {
console.error("The sample encountered an error:", err);
});

Output

PII recognition sample
Redacted text: "My phone number is ************"
Pii Entities:
        - "555-555-5555" of type PhoneNumber

Reference documentation | More samples | Package (PyPi) | Library source code

Use this quickstart to create a Personally Identifiable Information (PII) detection application with the client library for Python. In the following example, you'll create a Python application that can identify recognized sensitive information in text.

Prerequisites

• Azure subscription - Create one for trial
• Python 3.8 or later

Setting up

Create an Azure resource

To use the code sample below, you'll need to deploy an Azure resource. This resource will contain a key and endpoint you'll use to authenticate the API calls you send to the Language service.

1. Use the following link to create a language resource using the Azure portal. You will need to sign in using your Azure subscription.

2. On the Select additional features screen that appears, select Continue to create your resource.

   

3. In the Create language screen, provide the following information:

   Detail	Description
   Subscription	The subscription account that your resource will be associated with. Select your Azure subscription from the drop-down menu.
   Resource group	A resource group is a container that stores the resources you create. Select Create new to create a new resource group.
   Region	The location of your Language resource. Different regions may introduce latency depending on your physical location, but have no impact on the runtime availability of your resource. For this quickstart, either select an available region near you, or choose China East 2.
   Name	The name for your Language resource. This name will also be used to create an endpoint URL that your applications will use to send API requests.
   Pricing tier	The pricing tier for your Language resource. You can use the Free F0 tier to try the service and upgrade later to a paid tier for production.

   

4. Make sure the Responsible AI Notice checkbox is checked.

5. Select Review + Create at the bottom of the page.

6. In the screen that appears, make sure the validation has passed, and that you entered your information correctly. Then select Create.

Get your key and endpoint

Next you will need the key and endpoint from the resource to connect your application to the API. You'll paste your key and endpoint into the code later in the quickstart.

1. After the Language resource deploys successfully, click the Go to Resource button under Next Steps.

   

2. On the screen for your resource, select Keys and endpoint on the left navigation menu. You will use one of your keys and your endpoint in the steps below.

   

Create environment variables

Your application must be authenticated to send API requests. For production, use a secure way of storing and accessing your credentials. In this example, you will write your credentials to environment variables on the local machine running the application.

To set the environment variable for your Language resource key, open a console window, and follow the instructions for your operating system and development environment.

• To set the LANGUAGE_KEY environment variable, replace your-key with one of the keys for your resource.
• To set the LANGUAGE_ENDPOINT environment variable, replace your-endpoint with the endpoint for your resource.

setx LANGUAGE_KEY your-key

setx LANGUAGE_ENDPOINT your-endpoint

export LANGUAGE_KEY=your-key

export LANGUAGE_ENDPOINT=your-endpoint

export LANGUAGE_KEY=your-key

export LANGUAGE_ENDPOINT=your-endpoint

Install the client library

After installing Python, you can install the client library with:

pip install azure-ai-textanalytics==5.2.0

Code example

Create a new Python file and copy the below code. Then run the code.

# This example requires environment variables named "LANGUAGE_KEY" and "LANGUAGE_ENDPOINT"
language_key = os.environ.get('LANGUAGE_KEY')
language_endpoint = os.environ.get('LANGUAGE_ENDPOINT')

from azure.ai.textanalytics import TextAnalyticsClient
from azure.core.credentials import AzureKeyCredential

# Authenticate the client using your key and endpoint 
def authenticate_client():
    ta_credential = AzureKeyCredential(language_key)
    text_analytics_client = TextAnalyticsClient(
            endpoint=language_endpoint, 
            credential=ta_credential)
    return text_analytics_client

client = authenticate_client()

# Example method for detecting sensitive information (PII) from text 
def pii_recognition_example(client):
    documents = [
        "The employee's SSN is 859-98-0987.",
        "The employee's phone number is 555-555-5555."
    ]
    response = client.recognize_pii_entities(documents, language="en")
    result = [doc for doc in response if not doc.is_error]
    for doc in result:
        print("Redacted Text: {}".format(doc.redacted_text))
        for entity in doc.entities:
            print("Entity: {}".format(entity.text))
            print("\tCategory: {}".format(entity.category))
            print("\tConfidence Score: {}".format(entity.confidence_score))
            print("\tOffset: {}".format(entity.offset))
            print("\tLength: {}".format(entity.length))
pii_recognition_example(client)

Output

Redacted Text: The ********'s SSN is ***********.
Entity: employee
        Category: PersonType
        Confidence Score: 0.97
        Offset: 4
        Length: 8
Entity: 859-98-0987
        Category: USSocialSecurityNumber
        Confidence Score: 0.65
        Offset: 22
        Length: 11
Redacted Text: The ********'s phone number is ************.
Entity: employee
        Category: PersonType
        Confidence Score: 0.96
        Offset: 4
        Length: 8
Entity: 555-555-5555
        Category: PhoneNumber
        Confidence Score: 0.8
        Offset: 31
        Length: 12

Reference documentation

Use this quickstart to send Personally Identifiable Information (PII) detection requests using the REST API. In the following example, you will use cURL to identify recognized sensitive information in text.

Prerequisites

• Azure subscription - Create one for trial

Setting up

Create an Azure resource

To use the code sample below, you'll need to deploy an Azure resource. This resource will contain a key and endpoint you'll use to authenticate the API calls you send to the Language service.

1. Use the following link to create a language resource using the Azure portal. You will need to sign in using your Azure subscription.

2. On the Select additional features screen that appears, select Continue to create your resource.

   

3. In the Create language screen, provide the following information:

   Detail	Description
   Subscription	The subscription account that your resource will be associated with. Select your Azure subscription from the drop-down menu.
   Resource group	A resource group is a container that stores the resources you create. Select Create new to create a new resource group.
   Region	The location of your Language resource. Different regions may introduce latency depending on your physical location, but have no impact on the runtime availability of your resource. For this quickstart, either select an available region near you, or choose China East 2.
   Name	The name for your Language resource. This name will also be used to create an endpoint URL that your applications will use to send API requests.
   Pricing tier	The pricing tier for your Language resource. You can use the Free F0 tier to try the service and upgrade later to a paid tier for production.

   

4. Make sure the Responsible AI Notice checkbox is checked.

5. Select Review + Create at the bottom of the page.

6. In the screen that appears, make sure the validation has passed, and that you entered your information correctly. Then select Create.

Get your key and endpoint

Next you will need the key and endpoint from the resource to connect your application to the API. You'll paste your key and endpoint into the code later in the quickstart.

1. After the Language resource deploys successfully, click the Go to Resource button under Next Steps.

   

2. On the screen for your resource, select Keys and endpoint on the left navigation menu. You will use one of your keys and your endpoint in the steps below.

   

Create environment variables

Your application must be authenticated to send API requests. For production, use a secure way of storing and accessing your credentials. In this example, you will write your credentials to environment variables on the local machine running the application.

To set the environment variable for your Language resource key, open a console window, and follow the instructions for your operating system and development environment.

• To set the LANGUAGE_KEY environment variable, replace your-key with one of the keys for your resource.
• To set the LANGUAGE_ENDPOINT environment variable, replace your-endpoint with the endpoint for your resource.

setx LANGUAGE_KEY your-key

setx LANGUAGE_ENDPOINT your-endpoint

export LANGUAGE_KEY=your-key

export LANGUAGE_ENDPOINT=your-endpoint

export LANGUAGE_KEY=your-key

export LANGUAGE_ENDPOINT=your-endpoint

Create a JSON file with the example request body

In a code editor, create a new file named test_pii_payload.json and copy the following JSON example. This example request will be sent to the API in the next step.

{
    "kind": "PiiEntityRecognition",
    "parameters": {
        "modelVersion": "latest"
    },
    "analysisInput":{
        "documents":[
            {
                "id":"1",
                "language": "en",
                "text": "Call our office at 312-555-1234, or send an email to support@contoso.com"
            }
        ]
    }
}
'

Save test_pii_payload.json somewhere on your computer. For example, your desktop.

Send a personally identifying information (PII) detection API request

Use the following commands to send the API request using the program you're using. Copy the command into your terminal, and run it.

curl -X POST "%LANGUAGE_ENDPOINT%/language/:analyze-text?api-version=2022-05-01" ^
-H "Content-Type: application/json" ^
-H "Ocp-Apim-Subscription-Key: %LANGUAGE_KEY%" ^
-d "@C:\Users\<myaccount>\Desktop\test_pii_payload.json"

curl.exe -X POST $env:LANGUAGE_ENDPOINT/language/:analyze-text?api-version=2022-05-01 `
-H "Content-Type: application/json" `
-H "Ocp-Apim-Subscription-Key: $env:LANGUAGE_KEY" `
-d "@C:\Users\<myaccount>\Desktop\test_pii_payload.json"

curl -X POST $LANGUAGE_ENDPOINT/language/:analyze-text?api-version=2022-05-01 \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-H "Ocp-Apim-Subscription-Key: $LANGUAGE_KEY" \
-d "@/home/mydir/test_pii_payload.json"

curl -X POST $LANGUAGE_ENDPOINT/language/:analyze-text?api-version=2022-05-01 \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-H "Ocp-Apim-Subscription-Key: $LANGUAGE_KEY" \
-d "@/home/mydir/test_pii_payload.json"

JSON response

{
	"kind": "PiiEntityRecognitionResults",
	"results": {
		"documents": [{
			"redactedText": "Call our office at ************, or send an email to *******************",
			"id": "1",
			"entities": [{
				"text": "312-555-1234",
				"category": "PhoneNumber",
				"offset": 19,
				"length": 12,
				"confidenceScore": 0.8
			}, {
				"text": "support@contoso.com",
				"category": "Email",
				"offset": 53,
				"length": 19,
				"confidenceScore": 0.8
			}],
			"warnings": []
		}],
		"errors": [],
		"modelVersion": "2021-01-15"
	}
}