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The exclusion of private information from sensitive documents is something that individuals in different fields and job roles need to worry about. From the single business proprietor who just needs to redact personal or business financial information, to government agencies protecting policy data, redacting can be a tough job that is important to do right. For those who need to redact a document the right way, some basic steps based on expert advice can come in handy.

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Steps

  1. 1
    Ensure any physical redaction effectively hides the original text. For physical documents with raised type or heavy black ink, a black pen or other similar method may not work entirely. Check documents by holding them up to the light and do thorough research to make sure that physical changes will work.
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  2. 2
    Keep the original. For many redacted documents, an original copy still needs to remain in a safe location. Ignoring this imperative can be disastrous, and critical information can be lost.
  3. 3
    Identify any supporting documents for additional information that needs to be redacted. A single document may not be the only relevant piece that needs protecting. Assess all related documents to make redacting fully effective.
    • For electronic versions of documents, think about metadata, tags and other additional information that comes along with the document. Redact these elements as necessary.
    • For physical documents, check anything else in the same folder or any other documents that may contain some of the same sensitive information.
  4. 4
    Apply good redacting methods to electronic files. Making changes on electronic files is much different than it is for physical paper documents. A variety of other issues must be addressed to redact a document online or in another digital format.
    • Avoid ineffectual blacking out methods. One of the biggest mistakes that document redactors make with electronic documents is to simply use background color rather than deleting information. To some, it can seem that this lighter method will hide data while keeping the original information on the page, but the reality is that many of these background changes and other "black out" methods simply do not work. Others can be hacked, leaving the information vulnerable. Deleting the redacted portions means the characters are fully removed from the document.
    • Turn off software extras. Items like tracking changes in word processors can mean that residual traces of the sensitive words or phrases are left behind even after they are deleted. Make sure these tools are turned off and do not jeopardize the redaction of a document.
    • Create new versions of text files. It can be more effective to create a new version of a file after it has been doctored. This can apply to text files as well as visual files containing text representations.
  5. 5
    Label redacted versions of files. Identifying redacted files correctly, with good organization and labeling, will help make sure that they get used in the ways that the redactors intended.
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Categories: Editing and Style

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Español: redactar un documento

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