Arabic PII Detection and Redaction
Arabic is spoken by over 400 million people across 22 countries, each with unique identifier formats and data protection requirements. RedactionAPI provides comprehensive Arabic language support with native RTL processing, regional identifier detection, and cultural awareness for accurate PII protection in Arabic text.
Understanding Arabic Text Processing
Arabic presents unique challenges for PII detection due to its right-to-left writing system, connected script, diacritical marks, and regional variations. Our Arabic NLP pipeline is specifically designed to handle these characteristics while maintaining high accuracy.
Key Arabic Language Characteristics
Right-to-Left Script
Arabic is written right-to-left, but numbers and embedded Latin text follow left-to-right. Our bidirectional processing ensures correct handling of mixed content.
Connected Letters
Arabic letters connect to form words, with letter shapes changing based on position. Our tokenizer correctly segments words despite connected script.
Diacritical Marks
Short vowels and pronunciation marks (tashkeel) may or may not be written. Our system handles text with and without diacritics.
Numeral Systems
Arabic text may use Western numerals (0-9) or Eastern Arabic-Indic numerals (٠-٩). We detect both in identifiers.
Arabic Name Detection
Arabic names follow traditional patterns that differ from Western naming conventions. Our system understands these structures:
Arabic Name Components
Name Structure
- الاسم (Ism) - Given name
- الكنية (Kunya) - Parental nickname (Abu/Umm)
- النسبة (Nisba) - Geographic/tribal origin
- اللقب (Laqab) - Descriptive epithet
Common Patterns
- محمد بن عبدالله - Muhammad bin Abdullah
- فاطمة الزهراء - Fatima Al-Zahra
- أبو بكر الصديق - Abu Bakr Al-Siddiq
- عائشة بنت أحمد - Aisha bint Ahmed
Name Pattern Examples
// Arabic text with names
Input: "العميل محمد بن عبدالله الصالح يرغب في فتح حساب جديد"
// "Customer Muhammad bin Abdullah Al-Saleh wants to open a new account"
Output: "العميل [الاسم] يرغب في فتح حساب جديد"
// "Customer [NAME] wants to open a new account"
// Detected entity
{
"type": "name",
"value": "محمد بن عبدالله الصالح",
"transliteration": "Muhammad bin Abdullah Al-Saleh",
"components": {
"given_name": "محمد",
"patronymic": "بن عبدالله",
"family_name": "الصالح"
},
"confidence": 0.97
}
Regional National ID Formats
Each Arab country has distinct national identifier formats. We detect and validate IDs from all major MENA countries:
| Country |
ID Name |
Format |
Validation |
| Saudi Arabia |
National ID / Iqama |
10 digits (1xxx or 2xxx) |
Luhn check digit |
| UAE |
Emirates ID |
784-YYYY-NNNNNNN-C |
Check digit algorithm |
| Egypt |
National ID |
14 digits (birth date encoded) |
Date + governorate validation |
| Kuwait |
Civil ID |
12 digits |
Format validation |
| Qatar |
QID |
11 digits |
Check digit |
| Bahrain |
CPR |
9 digits (YYMMDDNNN) |
Date validation |
| Oman |
Civil ID |
8 digits |
Format validation |
| Jordan |
National Number |
10 digits |
Date encoding check |
Saudi National ID Validation
// Saudi National ID validation
function validateSaudiID(id) {
if (!/^[12]\d{9}$/.test(id)) return false;
// First digit indicates nationality
// 1 = Saudi citizen, 2 = Resident (Iqama)
// Luhn algorithm check
let sum = 0;
for (let i = 0; i < 10; i++) {
let digit = parseInt(id[i]);
if (i % 2 === 0) {
digit *= 2;
if (digit > 9) digit -= 9;
}
sum += digit;
}
return sum % 10 === 0;
}
// Example: 1234567890 - Valid Saudi National ID
// Example: 2098765432 - Valid Iqama (resident ID)
Arabic Phone Number Detection
We detect phone numbers from all Arab countries with proper country code and format recognition:
Phone Number Formats by Country
Gulf Countries
- Saudi Arabia: +966 5X XXX XXXX
- UAE: +971 5X XXX XXXX
- Kuwait: +965 XXXX XXXX
- Qatar: +974 XXXX XXXX
- Bahrain: +973 XXXX XXXX
- Oman: +968 XXXX XXXX
Other Arab Countries
- Egypt: +20 1X XXXX XXXX
- Jordan: +962 7X XXX XXXX
- Lebanon: +961 X XXX XXX
- Morocco: +212 6XX XXX XXX
- Algeria: +213 XXX XXX XXX
- Tunisia: +216 XX XXX XXX
Arabic Address Parsing
Arabic addresses often include landmarks and descriptive directions rather than structured street addresses. Our parser handles both formats:
// Structured address
Input: "شارع الملك فهد، حي العليا، الرياض ١٢٣٤٥"
Parsed:
{
"street": "شارع الملك فهد",
"district": "حي العليا",
"city": "الرياض",
"postal_code": "١٢٣٤٥", // Eastern Arabic numerals
"country": "Saudi Arabia"
}
// Landmark-based address
Input: "بجوار مسجد الراشد، خلف بنك الراجحي، حي النخيل"
Parsed:
{
"landmarks": ["مسجد الراشد", "بنك الراجحي"],
"district": "حي النخيل",
"type": "landmark_based"
}
Handling Mixed Arabic-English Text
Documents often contain Arabic and English mixed together. Our bidirectional processing handles this correctly:
// Mixed language input
Input: "Customer محمد الأحمد with email [email protected] called support"
// Both Arabic name and English email detected
Output: "Customer [NAME] with email [EMAIL] called support"
Entities:
[
{"type": "name", "value": "محمد الأحمد", "script": "arabic"},
{"type": "email", "value": "[email protected]", "script": "latin"}
]
Arabic Numeral Handling
Arabic text may use either Western (0-9) or Eastern Arabic-Indic (٠-٩) numerals. We detect identifiers in both:
Numeral System Support
| Type |
Western |
Eastern Arabic |
| Phone Number |
+966 512345678 |
+٩٦٦ ٥١٢٣٤٥٦٧٨ |
| National ID |
1234567890 |
١٢٣٤٥٦٧٨٩٠ |
| Postal Code |
12345 |
١٢٣٤٥ |
Regional Data Protection Laws
Arab countries are increasingly adopting data protection legislation. RedactionAPI supports compliance with:
Saudi Arabia - PDPL
Personal Data Protection Law (2021) governs collection, processing, and transfer of personal data with requirements similar to GDPR.
UAE - PDPL
Federal Decree-Law No. 45 of 2021 establishes comprehensive data protection rules for the UAE.
Egypt - Data Protection Law
Law No. 151 of 2020 regulates personal data processing with consent requirements and data subject rights.
Qatar - Personal Data Privacy Law
Law No. 13 of 2016 establishes data protection principles for Qatar with sector-specific regulations.
API Integration
Arabic Text Redaction Request
POST /v1/redact
{
"text": "العميل محمد الصالح، رقم الهوية ١٢٣٤٥٦٧٨٩٠، هاتف: +٩٦٦٥١٢٣٤٥٦٧٨",
"language": "ar",
"pii_types": ["name", "national_id", "phone"],
"options": {
"numeral_output": "arabic", // Use Eastern Arabic numerals in output
"placeholder_language": "arabic" // [اسم] instead of [NAME]
}
}
// Response
{
"redacted_text": "العميل [اسم]، رقم الهوية [هوية]، هاتف: [هاتف]",
"entities": [
{
"type": "name",
"value": "محمد الصالح",
"confidence": 0.96
},
{
"type": "national_id",
"value": "١٢٣٤٥٦٧٨٩٠",
"country": "SA",
"confidence": 0.99
},
{
"type": "phone",
"value": "+٩٦٦٥١٢٣٤٥٦٧٨",
"country": "SA",
"confidence": 0.98
}
]
}
Start Processing Arabic Text
RedactionAPI provides comprehensive Arabic language support with regional identifier detection across all MENA countries. Protect PII in Arabic text while meeting local data protection requirements.
