Redaction and Masking

Redaction and masking are two methods of de-identification that are often used interchangeably. The term redaction refers to removing a sensitive value from a document. When we hear the term redaction we often think of an image of a document with black bars across pieces of the text.

Masking is similar to redaction but allows for configuring how the sensitive value is removed. The most common example is using asterisks (i.e. ******) in place of a sensitive value.