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Redaction Best Practices

Redacting sensitive information is rarely a "one-and-done" task. To achieve the highest level of data protection while maintaining the utility of your documents, we recommend following these best practices.

An Iterative Process

Redaction should be viewed as an iterative process. It is common to apply a policy, review the results, and then refine the policy to improve the outcome.

  1. Initial Run: Apply your chosen redaction policy (or the default policy) to a sample of your documents.
  2. Review: Carefully examine the redacted output. Look for any "false negatives" (sensitive information that was missed) or "false positives" (information that was redacted but shouldn't have been).
  3. Refine: Adjust your Redaction Policy based on your findings. This might involve:
  4. Repeat: Run the redaction process again with the refined policy and repeat the review until the results meet your requirements.

Documents Require Individual Attention

Every document is unique. Differences in formatting, context, and language usage mean that a policy that works perfectly for one document might need adjustments for another.

  • Varying Layouts: Documents from different sources often have unique structures that can affect how information is identified.
  • Contextual Nuance: Some information may be sensitive in one context but not in another. Use Contexts to manage these variations.
  • Ambiguity: Names, locations, and other identifiers can sometimes be ambiguous. Disambiguation can help improve the redaction accuracy.

Human-in-the-Loop Review

While Philterd Data Services uses advanced AI and machine learning, automated redaction is not a substitute for human oversight. Especially for highly sensitive or regulated data, a "human-in-the-loop" review of the redacted documents is strongly encouraged.

Start with a Risk Assessment

Before performing redaction, run a Risk Assessment on your documents. This provides a quantitative overview of the sensitive information present, helping you prioritize which documents need the most attention and which policies might be most effective.

Use Custom Lists for Known Terms

If you have a known set of terms that must always be redacted (e.g., internal project names, specific employee IDs) or always protected, use Custom Lists. This is one of the most effective ways to quickly improve redaction accuracy for your specific organization.