How to Blur Sensitive Data in a Product Demo

The fastest way to record a product demo is to click through your own account. Your own account is also full of real data. Customer names, email addresses, invoice totals and internal notes all end up on screen. Before a demo goes on a website or into a sales email, every one of those has to go.

The short answer. Record the flow, then go step by step and blur every name, email and figure that should not be public. In Proovyt, blur is baked into the image pixels when you publish or export, so the original text is not sitting underneath for someone to recover. Blur is on every plan, Free included.

Key Takeaways

• Check every step for names, emails, figures, identifiers and internal notes.
• Record in a test account when you can, so there is less to hide.
• Proovyt bakes blur into the image pixels on publish and export, so the original is not underneath.
• Replace text and change a number are often better than blur, because a believable name draws less attention than a blurred block.
• If you miss something, fix the step and republish. The link stays the same.

What Counts as Sensitive in a Demo

Look for these on every step.

• People. Customer names, user names, avatars and email addresses.
• Money. Invoice totals, balances, prices you have not published, revenue charts.
• Identifiers. Account numbers, order numbers, API keys, internal IDs.
• Internal text. Notes, comments, ticket titles and project names.
• Browser chrome. Other tabs, bookmarks and notifications if they were captured.

Before You Record

The less real data you capture, the less you have to hide.

1. Use a demo or test account if you have one.
2. Close notifications and other tabs.
3. Plan the flow so you only open the screens you need.

Proovyt Capture only works on the tab you choose to record and on the Proovyt app. It has no access to every site you visit. With HTML capture on Pro and Team, typed text is never captured.

How to Blur Data in Proovyt

1. Open the demo in the editor. Each click from your recording is a step.
2. Go to a step with sensitive data. Work through the steps in order.
3. Add a blur over the data. Cover the whole value, not part of it.
4. Adjust the blur in the inspector. Set its strength and corner radius so it reads cleanly.
5. Repeat on every step. The same value often appears on several screens.
6. Preview the demo. Click through as a viewer would and look for anything you missed.
7. Publish. The blur is baked into the pixels at that point.

On an HTML step, blur the field the same way. The inspector lists each blurred field.

Why Baked-In Blur Matters

Some blur effects are a layer drawn over the image in the viewer's browser. If the original image ships with the demo, anyone who opens the page's files can see the data under the blur.

In Proovyt, blur is baked into the image pixels when you publish or export. The published screenshot is the blurred one. Publishing copies just the screenshots the demo uses, with blur baked in, and the rest of your workspace stays private.

Blur, Replace or Highlight

Blur is not the only way to deal with sensitive data. Sometimes a blurred block draws more attention than the data did.

Replacing a real customer name with a made-up one often reads better than a blur. See how to change text and numbers on a screenshot.

A Checklist Before You Publish

• Every step checked, not just the first few.
• Names, emails and figures blurred or replaced on every screen they appear.
• Small text checked, such as table rows and footers.
• The intro and end cards checked.
• The demo previewed as a viewer.

After You Publish

• Found something you missed. Fix the step and republish. The link stays the same.
• Need it down at once. Unpublish. The page comes down immediately.
• Need to limit who sees it. On Pro and Team, add a password, or set the link to expire on a date you choose.

Common Places Data Hides

Sensitive data is easy to miss in places the eye skips. Check these on every step.

• Table rows below the fold of the step. Long lists often show more customers than the one you clicked.
• Search boxes and filters. A previous search can leave a name in the field.
• Avatars and initials. A profile picture identifies a person as clearly as a name.
• Breadcrumbs and page titles. Account and project names often sit at the top of the screen.
• Charts and tooltips. A hover state can show an exact figure.
• Toasts and banners. A success message can repeat the email you just sent to.

Blur in Team Workspaces

When several people make demos, agree on one rule for what gets blurred. A short checklist that every member uses before publishing saves a demo from going out with one person's habit and not another's. Admins can set defaults for new demos, and owners and admins see every demo in the workspace, so they can check published demos too.

When to Use a Test Account Instead

Blur is the safety net, not the plan. If a flow shows dozens of customer records, recording it in a test account with made-up data is faster than blurring every row. Use blur and replace for the few real values that slip through.

Blur and Exported Files

Blur applies to every way a demo leaves Proovyt. It is baked into the pixels when you publish for a hosted link or an embed, and when you export an HTML file on Creator, Pro and Team. The exported file carries the blurred screenshots, not the originals, so a file handed to a client or hosted on your own server is as safe as the hosted page.