PHOTO ANONYMIZATION API Guide | MASKIT API

Mar 16
3 min read

Updated: Apr 21

How to Work with the MASKIT API for Automatic Photo Anonymization

In the digital era, privacy protection is key. Whether you are publishing CCTV footage, street photography, or datasets for AI training, you must ensure GDPR compliance and protect individual identities. MASKIT is a tool that automates this process using artificial intelligence.

In this guide, we will show you how to get started with the MASKIT API and how to easily anonymize faces, full bodies, or license plates within minutes.

Official documentation is available at: https://docs.maskit.ai/

Street with faces, license plates and other sensitive information

1. Logging into MASKIT

To access the application, log in or create an account at https://app.maskit.ai/mask. No credit card is required, and you have a basic number of free credits available to try the tool. MASKIT runs fully in the cloud, so you don't need to install anything and can start immediately.

MASKIT is a serverless application; your images are not stored anywhere—our goal is to ensure maximum GDPR compliance.

What else will you need?

Internet access.
A photo you want to anonymize.
Basic knowledge of working with APIs.

Tip: MASKIT supports standard image formats (JPEG, JPG, PNG, WEBP, JFIF).

2. Getting Access and an API Key

To process your requests, MASKIT needs to identify you.

Log in to the MASKIT application.
Click on your Profile and Account in the top right corner.
Select the API Access tab.
Enable API access.

The system will generate an API Key and a Webhook Key. In this guide, we will work only with the API Key.

Tip: Do not share this key with anyone; it serves as your password for communicating with the service.

Street view with anonymized faces and license plates

3. Anonymization Settings

MASKIT isn't just about "anonymizing everything." Thanks to AI, you can define exactly what to hide and how. Consider what type of anonymization you need.

What you want to detect:

Faces: Detects and anonymizes faces (suitable for GDPR compliance in photos of people).
Bodies: Anonymizes full silhouettes (suitable for CCTV footage where people can be identified by gait or clothing, or for minors).
License Plates: Blurs vehichttps://docs.maskit.ai/le registration plates.

Advanced configuration options:

Blur or overlay the object (method Blur/BlackFill)
Detection area for anonymization (shape Mask/Rectangle)
Intensity of the blur (blurStrength 0-100)
Softness of the blurred object's edge to make the transition as natural as possible (edgeBlurSize 0.0 - 1.0)

You can find the exact parameter specifications in the official MASKIT documentation.

4. Sending an Image for Processing

MASKIT works on an asynchronous processing principle. This means you send an image, and the system returns a confirmation that it is working on it.

Example API call:

curl -X POST "https://app.maskit.ai/api/v1/masking/process-image" \

-H "X-Api-Key: <Váš_API_KEY>" \

-F "image=@photo.jpg" \

-F "faces=true" \

-F "licensePlates=true" \

-F "bodies=true" \

-F "method=Blur" \

-F "blurStrength=30"

The system returns a Process ID (Job ID) which you will use in the next steps.

{"jobId":"<VÁŠ_JOB_ID>"}

5. Checking Process Status

MASKIT allows you to query the status of the anonymization using the Job ID obtained in the previous step.

Example API call:

curl -X GET "https://app.maskit.ai/api/v1/masking/image-status?jobId=<VÁŠ_JOB_ID>" \

-H "X-Api-Key: <VÁŠ_API_KEY>"

The system returns information about the project status:

Pending: The task is queued, but processing has not started yet.
InProgress: The task is currently being processed.
ReadyToDownload: Ready for download.
Completed: The task is finished.
TimedOut: The task was not completed within the time limit and was automatically terminated.
Failed: An error occurred during processing.

6. Downloading the File

Once the process is in the ReadyToDownload state, the result can be downloaded.

Example API call:

curl -X GET "https://app.maskit.ai/api/v1/masking/image-download?JobId=<VÁŠ_JOB_ID>" \

-H "X-Api-Key: <VÁŠ_API_KEY>" \

-OJ

The resulting image will have sensitive data irreversibly blurred. MASKIT technology is designed so that anonymization is irreversible, which is crucial for true data protection.

The original image is deleted from the system immediately after processing. If you wish to re-anonymize, you must upload the image again.
Once the anonymized image is downloaded, the file is deleted from the system. Therefore, it is not possible to download the result multiple times.