Redaction

Use dependable redaction solutions to edit confidential data from government documents in any format.

Security trend affects official records

Privacy laws and state mandates require an increasing number of state, county and local officials to redact (delete) Social Security numbers, driver’s license numbers, financial accounts and other sensitive information from publicly available records. At least 10 states require redaction and more are preparing to do so – creating a need for reliable, affordable solutions to edit millions of paper, filmed or electronic documents.

Value of CPI Data solutions

• U.S.-based professionals evaluate the most cost-effective approach to meet your needs and budget, for day-forward or back-file requirements.
• Expert project management assistance is provided for OCR and manual solutions.
• Experienced staff can assist with large-volume backfile projects.
• Industry-leading accuracy levels are achieved consistently.
• Lower costs are assured by trained offshore labor resources.

Types of forms needing redaction

• Property and mortgage (official) records
• Vital statistics
• Occupational licenses
• Uniform Commercial Code filings
• Electoral rolls
• Military discharges
• Vehicle, watercraft registrations
• Driver records
• Firearm permits

CPI Data offers a flexible blend of project-tailored redaction solutions

Software solution (OCR)

For recent documents and incoming records, we help select the optimal OCR redaction software. OCR (optical character recognition) technology reads document images (.tif, jpg, and PDF files) and redacts confidential information that is specified. With high OCR accuracy on modern documents, operators need only to verify and validate hard-to-read images that the program identifies.

Manual solution

We have extensive experience converting older and non-standard format documents into digital archives for financial, insurance, health care and government clients. Trained technicians and data entry operators routinely handle microfilm, microfiche, vintage computer tapes, file cards, photocopies and documents with low-quality typing or handwriting. Our project teams are able to verify OCR results or manually redact each document to achieve accuracy above 99.5% -- at highly attractive offshore labor rates.

Automated processing challenges

Manual services can be more reliable and efficient than automated solutions for handling decades-old records (as shown below) that may have degraded microfilm, mixes of handwriting and typing, inconsistent layouts and varied data presentation templates. Verification and correction costs can eliminate the advantage of automated redaction.

Eyes often can do a better job than software. Programs simply look for targeted numbers, keywords or certain areas on forms. “Software won’t pick up 100% percent of the data that needs to be redacted,” says an April 2006 report in Computerworld magazine.

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