redacting

Redacting is the process of concealing or removing sensitive information from documents, data sets, or communications. It is used to protect privacy, national security, or other interests by preventing unauthorized access to specific details while leaving the remainder of the material accessible. Redaction is distinct from censorship in that it aims to comply with legal or policy requirements rather than to suppress information for political reasons.

Redaction can be performed manually or with software, and it occurs in physical and digital contexts. Common methods include applying opaque blocks or masking to visible text, removing sections entirely, or sanitizing metadata and embedded content. In digital documents, redaction tools aim to make the redacted content irrecoverable, often by permanently deleting the data and overwriting it, and by cleansing associated metadata. Best practices emphasize preserving document structure for readability while ensuring that the redacted portions cannot be reconstructed through copy, OCR, or examination of surrounding context. A redacted document is typically accompanied by a record of what was removed, sometimes with a justification or citation to the governing policy.

Legal and ethical considerations shape redaction in many domains, including government transparency laws, privacy regulations such as GDPR or HIPAA, and journalistic or corporate compliance requirements. Proper redaction requires careful review to avoid leakage through indirect references or metadata, and to ensure that the redacted version remains consistent across all copies and formats.