What Does Redacted Mean?
To Redact has transformed in meaning over the years. From the historical significance of editing and making ready for publication; to the blackened-out court and government documents we’ve come to know through popular Hollywood movies. To what we’ve come to know today in the digital realm: the process of removing sensitive and personal data from documents.
The process of redaction has become part of everyday language as it expands it's presence through different niches of life. Michelle Lou and Saeed Ahmed from CNN expand on it's use in the sphere of the with judicial and political examples.
Data Redaction vs Data Masking
Data Redaction and Data Masking are commonly used incorrectly and interchangeably.
While Data Redaction means the complete removal of sensitive or personally identifiable data, Data Masking is the process of replacing authentic information with inauthentic information.
Data Masking is most abundantly used to create sample data for training and teaching purposes. Data Redaction protects personally identifiable or classified information from a document to prevent any data leak or theft.
Read this article by Swaroop Sham Senior, Product Manager at Okta detailing the sources and reasons of data theft.
Why Do We Redact?
You might be asking why the Redaction process has spilt from courtrooms and confidential government documents into everyday vocabulary and office processes. Why are we so keen to hide ordinary people’s data like it’s a government secret?
Your Data leaks like never before!
One of the characteristics of evolving into the digital age is that the physical law of one document equating to one copy is now arbitrary; one copy of your document and information can be made into multiple and distributed in the blink of an eye. Even a simple doctor’s prescription can contain your name, address and phone number.
Data protection has become paramount in such an environment of fluid data distribution. The growing necessity has ushered organizations and individuals to incorporate further data-protection methods into their daily operations and practices.
How Do You Redact?
Electronically, Redaction is done through a redaction tool or software. Automation in the process has allowed software to recognize data patterns accurately, providing the user with a list of options to select from, including credit card numbers, phone numbers and email addresses.
When to Redact
To ensure professional practices and proper handling of user data, data must be protected promptly to ensure no room for theft. The following are the times during the data-processing cycle that sensitive information should be fortified and protected from misuse:
- Upon Receiving Data
Many organizations redact data as soon as it is received, preventing potential data leaks and decreasing damage from potential data breaches.
- Upon Completing Task
Redaction immediately after the data has been appropriately used is essential to protect client data that might be further distributed. Such practices are fast becoming mandatory for organizations as the threats of data theft have become more complex and prevalent.
- Before Distribution of Data
Redaction before distribution is essential to protect customers’ data and prevent misuse. Any organization handling sensitive and confidential data must ensure proper protection before further distribution.
- Before Data Archiving
Redaction before Data Archiving is yet another professional practice that must be employed to fortify personal data before it is stored in an organization’s archive records.
- Before Data Disposal
Removal of all sensitive and confidential data before disposal is essential to uphold proper professional hygiene and prevent any possibility of data theft in the entire process of handling client information.
Benefits of Data Redaction
There are many benefits of using a Data Redaction tool:
- Data Security: safeguarding sensitive data has become paramount as the world becomes increasingly digital and data theft is becoming increasingly abundant. Data security becomes both a personal requirement as well as a key point of trust between clients and organizations.
- Functionality: As most businesses and institutions become increasingly digital, Redaction has become a necessary daily process. It has become essential for these organizations to carry out precise and efficient Redaction to tackle mass paperwork and data. The need for an efficient redaction tool that can save both time and Human Resources is pivotal.
- Regulatory Compliance: Data breaches have ushered a need for regulatory agencies to increase their stronghold to protect user data. Data redaction is heading towards becoming a norm to ensure user protection and is likely to become part of the regulatory protocol for organizations.
With all these considerations in mind, Redactable has successfully created a concise Redaction tool ensuring the complete protection of data and providing the latest A.I. technology to auto-redact multiple-page documents in minutes.
Industries That Use Data-Redaction
Government & Legal Offices
Government institutes and legal officials passing “Confidential” documents with streaks of black bars running across them is a cultural cliche that has developed for a good reason.
Data redaction is an everyday process and requirement for government and law offices as they handle sensitive information daily. A.I.-based Redaction has eased this process greatly, while the necessity of having an accurate redaction tool cannot be compromised.
Financial Services
Financial companies deal with enormous amounts of confidential and personal customer data, including credit/debit card numbers, bank account numbers, addresses and phone numbers. They often extract this information from mass customer databases, making data redaction an important and necessary process to keep client information safe.
Healthcare and Pharmaceutical Organizations
Patient-related paperwork is an extensively time-consuming process. Every patient document is filled with personal information.
Clinical trials are an apparent market for data redaction. The process has proved to relieve countless person-hours in the pharma industry.
Travel
Both travel agencies and the transportation industry at large handle vast amounts of customer data, from ticket information to Passport numbers. Data protection is vital and has become increasingly essential as the industry expands. Data-refactors with the ability to redact mass amounts of information in a time-efficient and accurate manner are a requirement for daily operations.
IT Operations
The I.T. industry handles a mass amount of data. Data security is of the highest priority when suggesting the consequences of a single data breach. The removal and protection of sensitive Data are key for organizations to operate. Thus, having a tool that can perform this in mass quantities by having a capable A.I. Operating system is essential.
Law Enforcement
Law enforcement agencies need quick and efficient data redaction to maintain databases and fluidly use documents for use within their network
E-commerce
As the e-commerce industry exponentially expands, it must handle the niches of personal information at its hands professionally. Customer data leaks eradicate trust and downgrade company reputations. With the prevalence of competition in the space, data security will become one of the defining factors for consumer business and trust.
What to look for when choosing a Redaction tool
- Efficiency: A manual redactor will force you to find and select your redaction data on your own, while an auto-redactor will provide options to redact by pattern: Phone Numbers, Credit Cards, etc. Redactable provides the first fully automated redaction option that redacts your document COMPLETELY and securely through capable A.I. technology.
- Security: Is the software safe? Does it altogether remove data from the document or simply mask it? Do they have a list of legitimate customers? You MUST check all these boxes before choosing a redaction tool - it is a question of your most sensitive personal information.
- Ease-of-use: Is the interface smooth and easy to use? Does the dashboard provide you with all your tools and options?
These factors are often not met when using online redaction tools. Such use can compromise your data while providing further harm to your system. Check out our article on the risks of using online redaction tools.
In the end, the question condenses to whether the Redaction tool makes your life easier with no compromises in security. If it is a confident yes, go for it.
What is Redactable?
Redactable is a cloud-based redaction software that deploys A.I. to redact documents to remove sensitive data and provide fully secure redacted documents in little time: users average two-and-a-half minutes to redact a 10-page document.
Redactable Meets All Your Needs
Ease to use
Redactable’s interface is clean and easy to use. A toolbar to the left and your redaction options to the right provides a clear workstation. While the Redaction Wizard guides you through every step of the process quickly and efficiently.
Along with a complete Auto-redact option that completely redacts your documents in seconds through A.I. technology without any need for manual Redaction; Redactable also offers Pattern criteria including names, emails and full SSNs and a draw-over tool to select regions and areas of documents with ease. A list of document history preserves your original document and previous redactions for you to refer to at your convenience.
Everything you need is provided in one space in an easily accessible manner.
Security & Permeance
Permeance and security are defining characteristics of our process. How do we ensure maximum data security? By removing all sensitive data and meta-data from your pdf documents completely.
Redactable does not use data masking, which can easily be removed; instead, we COMPLETELY remove all sensitive data and metadata from the document’s code, ensuring NO possibility for your data to be leaked or stolen.
Redaction Certificates - provided after redaction detailing the editor of each redaction and the time of redaction to provide a transparent and easy to manage process for our users.
Trust
Our guarantee has harbored a list of respected and trusted clients, including C.F.V. Ventures, Stony Lonesome Group, TAMPA BAY wave & HUSTLE FUND.
Our Help Center is always available to every existing and prospective customer for extensive support !
What does Redactable offer that others don’t?
- Collaboration: Invite your colleagues to redact documents quickly and efficiently. Cut time on needless back and forths with access to projects for your entire team
- Auto-Redaction:
Redactable’s Wizard provides the auto-redact option employing our A.I. built for Natural Language Processing and O.C.R. to accurately redact ALL sensitive data from your pdf documents. The tool allows an average of two-and-a-half minutes to redact a 10-page document. Redact your official and unofficial documents efficiently and save countless hours and resources.
Pricing
- Pro Pack:
$49.99/month/seat, giving unlimited redactions on unlimited documents.
- Enterprise:
Package available for organizations that wish to deploy the software on their cloud. Contact us to know more.
Overview
In an age when Data is abundant and data theft is prevalent, data redaction has become a necessary process. From legal and government offices to everyday users, Redaction has become mandatory and pivotal to protect personal and sensitive data.
The increased use has ushered in demand for capable and secure redaction tools and software. Factors such as efficiency, security and functionality play critical roles while assessing your redaction needs.
Though there is a broad supply of redaction tools online, doubts on data security and competence bar most software from being viable and professional options
Redactable has created software that has kept all user considerations in mind to provide the market with concise and secure software.
The one-of-a-kind auto-redaction feature and an industry-first collaboration feature streamlines the redaction process for organizations and individuals. Redact in record time and save both time and resources in the process.
We hope to provide a smooth user experience with the help of our Wizard, simplifying the process of data redaction and alleviating any concerns about data- security.
We continuously strive to uphold our reputation by providing the best services to our esteemed and growing client base. We hope to provide the same quality of service to you.
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