SecureCopyPaste - scrub

A CLI tool to automatically strip PII (Personally Identifiable Information) and corporate information from clipboard content before pasting.

Built with Microsoft Presidio for robust PII detection and anonymisation.

Features

• Detects and redacts common PII:

  • Names, email addresses, phone numbers
  • Credit cards, SSNs, passports, driver licences
  • IP addresses, URLs, dates
  • Medical licences, bank account numbers
  • And much more (see supported entities)

• Custom corporate information redaction:

  • Company/organisation names
  • Internal domains and URLs
  • Project/product code names
  • Custom deny-list terms

• Multiple usage modes:

  • CLI command for manual scrubbing
  • macOS keyboard shortcut for quick access
  • Pipe mode for integration with other tools

Installation

Prerequisites

• Python 3.8 or higher
• macOS (uses pbcopy/pbpaste for clipboard access)

Installation Steps

1. The repository can be cloned or downloaded:

cd ~/Github/SecureCopyPaste

2. The package is then installed:

# Install in development mode (recommended for easy updates)
pip install -e .

# Or install normally
pip install .

3. The spaCy NLP model must be downloaded (required for name/location detection):

python -m spacy download en_core_web_lg

This may take a few minutes as the model is ~500MB.

4. (Optional) A configuration file can be created:

scrub --init-config

This creates ~/.config/scrub/config.yaml with example corporate terms. This file can be edited to include company names, domains, project names, and deny-list terms.

Usage

Basic CLI Usage

# Scrub clipboard in-place (reads clipboard, scrubs, writes back)
scrub

# Read from stdin, output to stdout
echo "Call John Doe at 555-1234" | scrub --stdin
# Output: Call <PERSON> at <PHONE_NUMBER>

# Dry-run: see what would be redacted without modifying clipboard
scrub --dry-run

# Use custom config file
scrub --config /path/to/config.yaml

# Show version
scrub --version

Example

Input (clipboard):

Hi, I'm Jane Smith from Acme Corp. 
Email me at jane.smith@acme.com or call 555-123-4567.
Our internal system is at https://internal.acme.io
Credit card: 4532-1488-0343-6467

After running scrub:

Hi, I'm <PERSON> from <CORPORATE_NAME>. 
Email me at <EMAIL_ADDRESS> or call <PHONE_NUMBER>.
Our internal system is at <INTERNAL_DOMAIN>
Credit card: <CREDIT_CARD>

Configuration

The config file at ~/.config/scrub/config.yaml allows for the specification of corporate information to redact:

corporate:
  # Company/organisation names
  company_names:
    - "Acme Corp"
    - "Acme Inc"
  
  # Internal domains (matches in URLs and emails)
  domains:
    - "acme.com"
    - "internal.acme.io"
  
  # Project/product code names
  project_names:
    - "Project Phoenix"
    - "Codename Titan"
  
  # Custom terms to always redact
  deny_list:
    - "confidential-system-name"
    - "internal-tool-v2"

A complete example is available in config/config.example.yaml.

macOS Keyboard Shortcut Setup

For quick access, a keyboard shortcut can be set up to run scrub automatically.

Option 1: Using macOS Shortcuts.app (Recommended)

1. Shortcuts.app can be opened (comes with macOS).

2. A new shortcut is created by clicking the + button.

3. A "Run Shell Script" action is added:

   • Search for "Run Shell Script" in the actions sidebar
   • Drag it to the workflow

4. The shell script is configured as follows:

   • Shell: /bin/bash
   • Pass input: (doesn't matter)
   • Script content:

     /usr/local/bin/scrub

   Note: The scrub path can be found with: which scrub

5. The shortcut is saved with a name like "Scrub Clipboard".

6. A keyboard shortcut is assigned:

   • Right-click the shortcut → Add Keyboard Shortcut
   • Press the desired key combination (e.g., Cmd+Shift+V or Ctrl+Shift+S)
   • Ensure the shortcut is not already in use by another application.

7. Testing:

   • Copy text with PII to the clipboard
   • Press the keyboard shortcut
   • Paste to verify the content was scrubbed

Option 2: Using Automator

1. Automator (in Applications) is opened.

2. A new Quick Action is created.

3. The workflow is configured:

   • "Workflow receives": no input in any application
   • Add action: Run Shell Script
   • Shell: /bin/bash
   • Pass input: as arguments
   • Script:

     /usr/local/bin/scrub

4. Saved as "Scrub Clipboard".

5. A keyboard shortcut is assigned:

   • Open System Settings → Keyboard → Shortcuts
   • Select Services in the sidebar
   • Find "Scrub Clipboard" under General
   • Click Add Shortcut and press the desired keys

Warp Terminal Integration

For Warp users, an alias or function can be created in the shell profile:

# Add to ~/.zshrc or ~/.bashrc
alias scrub-clip='scrub'

# Or create a function that shows a notification
function scrub-clip() {
    scrub && echo "✓ Clipboard scrubbed"
}

Development

Project Structure

SecureCopyPaste/
├── pyproject.toml              # Project metadata and dependencies
├── README.md                   # This file
├── config/
│   └── config.example.yaml     # Example configuration
└── src/
    └── scrub/
        ├── __init__.py         # Package init
        ├── cli.py              # CLI entry point
        ├── clipboard.py        # macOS clipboard utilities
        ├── config.py           # Configuration management
        ├── scrubber.py         # Core Presidio integration
        └── recognisers/        # Custom PII recognisers
            ├── corporate.py    # Company name detection
            ├── domains.py      # Internal domain detection
            └── denylist.py     # Custom deny-list terms

Running Tests

# Install dev dependencies
pip install -e ".[dev]"

# Run tests (when available)
pytest

Troubleshooting

pbpaste or pbcopy not found

This tool requires macOS. The clipboard commands are macOS-specific.

spaCy model not found

Ensure the model has been downloaded:

python -m spacy download en_core_web_lg

No PII detected

Presidio uses confidence scores. Some entities may not be detected if:

• The confidence score is too low
• The text doesn't match expected patterns
• The NLP model doesn't recognise the entity

Use --dry-run to see what is detected.

Keyboard shortcut not working

• Ensure the scrub command works from the terminal first
• Verify the path to scrub in the shortcut matches which scrub
• Check that the keyboard shortcut isn't already in use
• macOS may require permissions for Shortcuts/Automator to run shell commands

Security Notes

• Presidio uses automated detection and may not catch all PII
• Scrubbed content should always be reviewed before sharing sensitive information
• This tool serves as a helpful safeguard, not a guarantee
• Config files may contain sensitive corporate terms - protect accordingly

Licence

MIT

Acknowledgments

• Built with Microsoft Presidio
• Uses spaCy for NLP