A demo is a set of screenshots of your product. Your product holds customer data. Unless someone checks, some of that data ends up in the demo, and the demo ends up on a public page.
For more on this topic, read How to Change Text and Numbers on a Screenshot.
Short Answer
Record in a test account, review every step for real data before publishing, and use blur that is baked into the image rather than layered over it.
- Never record in a production account with real customers.
- Review each step for names, emails, figures and anything in the browser chrome.
- Choose how private each link is before you share it.
Why Demo Data Is Harder to Protect than It Looks
Data hides in places the recorder does not look.
- Sidebars and recent-items lists.
- Notification badges and toasts.
- Search boxes with previous queries.
- Browser tabs and bookmarks if the capture includes them.
- Avatars and initials of real colleagues.
- Small text in table footers.
And blur in some tools is a layer over the original. If the original is still in the published file, the data is not really gone.
Where to Record
| Account | Use for demos? |
|---|---|
| Production with real customers | No |
| Staging with copied production data | No |
| Test account with made-up data | Yes |
| Demo account kept for this purpose | Yes |
If you must record somewhere with real data, plan to blur every occurrence and have someone else check.
Review Every Step
Go step by step and look for:
- Names and emails of people.
- Company names that are real customers.
- Figures that reveal revenue, usage or pricing.
- IDs, API keys or tokens visible in settings.
- Internal project names you have not announced.
The screenshot hygiene checklist has the full list.
Blur That Removes the Data
When you blur a value, check that the published output contains only the blurred pixels. In Proovyt, blur is baked into the pixels when you publish or export, so the original is not sitting underneath. Publishing also copies only the screenshots the demo uses. The rest of your workspace stays private.
Control Who Sees It
| Situation | Option |
|---|---|
| Public marketing demo | Plain hosted link, after review |
| Shared with one prospect | Password-protected link |
| Shared for a limited time | Expiring link |
| Needs to come down now | Unpublish |
In Proovyt, password and expiring links are on Pro and Team. Unpublishing takes the page down at once on every plan.
Viewer Privacy Too
Your demo's viewers have data as well. Proovyt's hosted pages and embeds set no cookies, and analytics store no IP addresses. Unique viewers come from a hash that changes every day. Viewers stay anonymous unless they send a lead form.
An Illustrative Worked Example
This example is hypothetical. A team records a demo in a shared staging account.
- A reviewer finds a real customer's name in the "recent" sidebar on four steps.
- They blur it on each step.
- They find a teammate's email in a notification on step 6, and blur that.
- They publish. The published images contain only the blurred pixels.
- They decide to record future demos in a dedicated test account.
The Old Way Versus a Better Way
| Old way | Better way |
|---|---|
| Record wherever the data looks good | Record in a test account built for demos |
| Blur as a layer over the original | Blur baked into the published image |
| Open links for everything | Protected links for buyer-specific demos |
| Fix leaks when someone reports them | Review every step before publishing |
Decide Who Owns Demo Data
Someone should own the demo account and its sample data. Their job is small but specific.
- Keep the sample data plausible and current.
- Make sure nobody brings real data into the account.
- Run the second review on demos before they publish.
Without an owner, the demo account slowly fills with real data copied in for convenience.
A 30-Day Rollout Plan
Week 1. Set up a dedicated demo account and name its owner.
Week 2. Review every live demo for real data. Blur or re-record what you find.
Week 3. Move buyer-specific demos to password or expiring links.
Week 4. Add "second review done" to your publishing routine.
Where Proovyt Fits (Full Disclosure)
Proovyt is an interactive demo tool, and this is our blog.
- Blur and redact on every plan, baked in at publish or export.
- Publishing copies only the screenshots the demo uses.
- Password and expiring links on Pro and Team.
- Optional two-factor sign-in for every account.
Proovyt does not have SSO or SOC 2 yet. See the FAQ and pricing.
Related Reading
Related reading on this blog covers the next steps. Start with measuring demo drop-off to see which demos need attention first, and screenshot hygiene for the review that runs before every publish. Both apply to every demo you keep live, whatever its placement.
Common Mistakes
- Recording in production "just this once."
- Reviewing only the main area of each screen.
- Trusting a blur that is a layer over the original.
- Sharing a buyer-specific demo on an open link.
The Bottom Line
A leak needs two things to go wrong. Real data in the recording, and nobody checking before publish. Record on test data, check every step, and use blur that removes the original.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is a blurred value really gone in Proovyt? Yes. Blur is baked into the pixels when you publish or export.
What does publishing make public? Only the screenshots the demo uses, with blur baked in. The rest of the workspace stays private.
Can I take a demo down quickly? Yes. Unpublishing takes the page down at once.
Can I protect a link with a password? Yes, on Pro and Team.
Do you track viewers with cookies? No. Hosted pages and embeds set no cookies, and analytics keep no IP addresses.