5 ms·

What is the right way to do PDF redaction?

• ggchappell 17y ago
  Depends on what you mean by "redaction". In context, we're talking about removing information from documents, so that partial documents can be released without the removed information being released. The problem is that the PDF format was simply not designed to support that, and the great majority of PDF editing tools (or perhaps all of them??) do not allow for it. The solution is to create an entirely new PDF, in a way that ensures that the targeted information is not the file. For example, one could take an existing PDF, cover the targeted information with black rectangles, print the resulting document, and then scan the hard copy to create a new PDF.
• ams6110 17y ago
  I suppose one way would be to use an older "portable document" format (aka plain-text) and replace the sensitive text with strings of "x" characters.
• Locke1689 17y ago
  They could just create the PDF from the blacked documents in the first place.