Redacting PDF Documents Online
Introduction
Redacting is a serious concern when it comes to safeguarding sensitive information. There are several tools that you can find to redact information but most of them do not fulfill their purpose correctly. Therefore, we are going to mention how you can redact PDF documents online using a simple and handy tool. But first, let us take a brief look at what redacting is, and why it is important for organizations, groups, and institutions.
What Is Redacting?
Redacting is the process of removing information from the PDF document before publishing. This usually helps editors remove sensitive information from the document before it reaches the general public. However, obscuring information in the wrong way can cause several problems, which is why it is important to blur text or censor text the right way.
Most of the individuals create their document files via popular software like Microsoft Word, Microsoft PowerPoint and then convert them into a PDF for final distribution. Therefore, the redacting process works best for users with the right publication software only.
Why Do People Need To Redact A Document?
As mentioned above, redacting works best for sensitive information in a document. It can include several kinds of personal information but professional firms or governmental bodies use the features because they want to skip out important information. Similarly, banks, hospitals, or other important institutions that handle sensitive user information need to pay attention to sensitive information. But, what kind of information qualifies as sensitive? Let us have a look.
What Information needs to Redacting?
While the use of information and redacting differs from organization to organization; the following are some common examples of sensitive information that professionals need to redact before publication.
● License plate number
● Drivers license number
● Judiciary records
● Social security number
● Individual addresses
● Financial records, files, and information
● Protected health information
Publishing any of this information could cause damage to organizations and anyone connected to them. Therefore, it is essential to pay attention to detail and to ensure any information you add does not reach the public later on. There are several instances where redaction failures caused a lot of stir. Here is an example:
Media and Redaction Failure
The biggest issue with redaction failures is that they lead to a breach of information, controversies, and several legal issues. There have been several instances where organizations, governments, and groups suffered because of failed redaction processes. A well-known example is when Paul Manafort, who was Trump’s campaign chair did not redact the pleadings made in the federal court.
Because of this, sensitive information that people were not initially aware of, ended up surfacing to the general public. The plea revolved around Manafort’s violation when he lied during the federal investigation. It further stressed why Manafort made certain statements due to loss of memory. All of this happened in 2019 and is one of several other issues that occurred only because of redacting failures.
Methods to use for PDFBear
You probably understand by now that redacting is a serious concern especially for multi-national firms, governments, and officials that get a lot of media attention. While there are several tools that you can use to redact text in a PDF or document, not all of these tools are right for the task. Have a look at how PDFBear makes redacting better compared to other tools you find online.
PDFBear's Redaction Does it Right
Most of the redacting tools that you find on the internet use a black box to mark a text, which covers the text. However, this is not the correct way to redact text. While it seems like a good solution, there is still a risk involved as the text can be revealed in a hex-editor or simpler forms of detection such as copy & paste.
This puts sensitive information at risk even when people use simple tools like Copy Paste, which is why you should better alternatives like PDFBear.
How Does PDFBear do it?
PDFBear understands the importance of censoring vital information and the risks that come with losing that confidential data. Therefore, it does not simply paint over the text in the document. Instead, the software actually renders the marked field as a big block of text that is black, in the redact PDF.
This would mean that the text ultimately becomes a big black box and can't be retrieved despite the method used. This removes the data from being viewed and saves it from revealing when a user tries to copy-paste the information.
Step by Step Guide
Following are some of the basic steps that you will need to follow to redact your files with PDFBear:
● Access their online site at: https://pdfbear.com/edit-pdf.
● Access the Edit PDF option
● Choose the PDF file you wish to make changes to by browsing to the desired file
● Upload your desired file and pan to the sections that you wish to redact
● Find the tool in the options menu and select sensitive information that you want to redact
● Mark all the areas that you wish to hide through redacting and save changes
Conclusion
It is safe to say that PDFbear is a great option to redact your document as it focuses on making sensitive information inaccessible even during copy-pastes. It is a safe and secure method to hide sensitive information from a PDF, plus PDF bear offers several other PDF-related benefits including merging and editing a PDF, making it the most advanced editor on the internet at the moment.
You will not need to worry about making mistakes as the US government did back in 2019 with their redacting fail. You can even work on a Redact PDF Online if you want.