The company offers several flavors of the tool, but it may be too expensive for you if you have an occasional need since the starting price is about $250. One solution is to use a 3 rd party utility from Appligent that properly handles redaction. There are several ways to solve this issue, as the legal and intelligence communities know. Better Solutions to Sanitize PDF Documents Don’t worry I created fictitious data so that you could see the problem. You should be able to see the contents that were behind the black highlighted text. Open an editor such as Notepad or VS Code.Use the Select tool in Adobe Reader or your browser and select all the text.You can either download the file or open it in your browser.For you skeptics, I’ve attached a sample PDF file so you can try this experiment on your own. Many authors didn’t realize that if you can select text in Adobe Reader and copy and paste it back to an editor, you can see the contents underneath the black highlighted text. On the surface, this looked like an elegant solution since people couldn’t edit the text. When the recipient opened the file, they would see the black highlighted text, and it would print the same. Next people started to convert the same Microsoft Word document to Acrobat PDF. So while this is a simple method, it’s not secure and should be avoided. However, this process doesn’t work well if you email or upload the file to someone else since they can easily undo the highlighting. This works fine if you’re printing the document or faxing it to someone else. Common Word Redaction Methods and IssuesĪ popular way that people redact information is to use Microsoft’s Word highlight tool and cover up the confidential text with black. Some people also refer to this process as sanitizing. With the advent of privacy rules and the rise of file sharing, the rest of us should know how to do proper redactions. This is different than removing hidden Metadata as the reader will see information is covered up.

It’s the practice of removing confidential or sensitive data before giving the document to others. The term redaction may not be a household term but is often used in the legal community. Within the center, there is an eDiscovery feature that allows for redactions. Specifically, you have access to Microsoft 365 compliance center. However, if you’re an enterprise user of Microsoft 365, then you have more resources. Microsoft Word AddOns & 3rd Party Servicesįor starters, this tutorial is geared toward individuals.Better Solutions to Sanitize PDF Documents.Common Word Redaction Methods and Issues.

Word redaction tool 2016