diff --git a/deploy/bin/sanitise_backup.py b/deploy/bin/sanitise_backup.py
index df7a191e..b86a0a2a 100644
--- a/deploy/bin/sanitise_backup.py
+++ b/deploy/bin/sanitise_backup.py
@@ -34,18 +34,22 @@ def main(backup_file):
     cur = conn.execute("SELECT name FROM sqlite_schema WHERE type ='table' AND name NOT LIKE 'sqlite_%';")
     tables = [t[0] for t in cur.fetchall()]
 
+    # Find tables that reference user table
     references_user = []
     for table in tables:
         cur = conn.execute(f"PRAGMA foreign_key_list('{table}')")
         fks = cur.fetchall()
         references_user.extend([(fk[3],table) for fk in fks if fk[2]=="opencodelists_user" and fk[4]=="username"])
 
+    # Sanitise user data and related
     cur = conn.execute("select username from opencodelists_user;")
     usernames = [row[0] for row in cur.fetchall()]
     fake_usernames = []
     for username in usernames:
+        # "deferrable" FKs means we can break integrity within a transaction
         stmts=["BEGIN TRANSACTION"]
 
+        # Generate fake username that's not a real username or one we've already had
         while True:
             fake_username = fake.user_name()
             if fake_username not in fake_usernames and fake_username not in usernames:
@@ -55,9 +59,11 @@ def main(backup_file):
         fake_email = f"{username}@example.com"
         fake_password = hash_password(fake.password())
 
+        # Update FK fields (must be done first)
         for user_column, table in references_user:
             stmts.append(f"UPDATE {table} SET {user_column} = '{fake_username}' WHERE {user_column} = '{username}'")
 
+        # Update user fields containing personal data
         stmts.append(f"""
                      UPDATE opencodelists_user
                      SET username = '{fake_username}',
@@ -71,15 +77,25 @@ def main(backup_file):
         conn.executescript(";\n".join(stmts)+";\n")
 
     
+    # Sanitise freetext fields
     cur = conn.execute("SELECT name, sql FROM sqlite_schema WHERE type ='table' AND name NOT LIKE 'sqlite_%' AND name NOT LIKE 'django_%' AND name NOT LIKE 'versioning%' AND sql LIKE '% text %';")
     freetext_tables = [(t[0],extract_text_column_names(t[1])) for t in cur.fetchall()]
     for table, columns in freetext_tables:
         for column in columns:
+            # Leave csv and other non-user-provided form data intact
             if "data" in column:
                 continue
             stmt = f"UPDATE {table} SET {column} = '[freetext removed]' WHERE COALESCE({column},'') <> '';"
             conn.execute(stmt)
 
+    # Replace API keys
+    cur = conn.execute("SELECT key FROM authtoken_token;")
+    keys = [k[0] for k in cur.fetchall()]
+    for key in keys:
+        conn.execute(
+            f"UPDATE authtoken_token SET key = '{secrets.token_hex(20)}' WHERE key = '{key}';"
+        )
+
     conn.commit()
     conn.close()
 
diff --git a/opencodelists/tests/integration/test_sanitise_backup.py b/opencodelists/tests/integration/test_sanitise_backup.py
index eab38d0e..7b748faf 100644
--- a/opencodelists/tests/integration/test_sanitise_backup.py
+++ b/opencodelists/tests/integration/test_sanitise_backup.py
@@ -8,6 +8,21 @@
 
 @pytest.mark.django_db(transaction=True)
 class TestBackupSanitisation:
+    def test_api_keys_removed(self, universe, tmp_path):
+        original_users = [v for v in universe.values() if isinstance(v, User)]
+        api_tokens = {u.api_token for u in original_users if u.api_token}
+
+        backup_path = backup_db(tmp_path)
+        sanitise_backup(backup_path)
+
+        conn = sqlite3.connect(backup_path)
+        cur = conn.execute("SELECT key FROM authtoken_token;")
+        sanitised_tokens = {k[0] for k in cur.fetchall()}
+
+        assert len(sanitised_tokens) == len(api_tokens)
+
+        assert api_tokens != sanitised_tokens
+
     def test_user_fields_sanitised(self, universe, tmp_path):
         personal_data_fields = ["username", "email", "name", "password"]
         original_users = [v for v in universe.values() if isinstance(v, User)]