How to Redact Sensitive Information From Audio- 4 Easy Steps
Yashant Bikram Gyawali
May 2023
Audio and video can be more engaging formats than written content, and often convey layers of emotions and nuance that text fails to capture.
Audiovisual media are getting popular in every industry, including legal, medical, and research. However, they pose a challenge to protect sensitive information sometimes required by law, such as personally identifiable information (PII).
While it may be easy to find, select, and strip out sensitive information from a text document, audio files are much more complex to edit. Given that, redacting PII from audio, and from the audio track of video files, can be challenging.
In this article, I will provide an overview of what audio redaction is, its benefits, and how you can redact sensitive information from your audio files just by selecting text 🤯.
But wait, what exactly is audio redaction again?
Audio redaction is different from audio editing.
Audio redaction is the process of removing or obscuring sensitive information from audio files. Sensitive information can be anything from personally identifiable information (PII) to confidential business data. Audio redaction helps protect the privacy and security of individuals and organizations.
Why might I need to redact audio?
Audio Redaction can help protect confidential information, complying with data privacy laws, and ensuring compliance with industry regulations such as HIPAA, GDPR, FOIA, and California Rules of Court.
The use cases of audio redaction.
🚓 Law enforcement: Audio redaction can protect the privacy of victims and witnesses in police investigations and ensures compliance with body camera laws and regulations.
⚖️ Court proceedings: Audio redaction can protect sensitive information in court recordings, such as personal identification details, confidential business information, or discussions that are not admissible in court.
🩺 Healthcare: Audio redaction can remove personally identifiable information from medical recordings to maintain patient confidentiality.
🏦 Finance industry: Audio redaction helps secure sensitive financial information in investor calls or meetings, including private deals, strategies, or other sensitive information.
🔍 Qualitative research: Audio redaction can be used in to protect the privacy of research participants to maintain the confidentiality of the participant and keep sensitive information shared in an interview private.
Audio redaction in 4 Quick Steps
There are numerous software solutions for redaction, and one may be better than the other based on your use case. Here are the top 5 Redaction Tools you can opt for in 2023.
Redact audio with Reduct
Prerequisites:
Experience in audio editing- 0 years
Device- Any computer with a browser
If you know how to work with a Word file, you can effortlessly redact audio with Reduct.
Here’s how it works:
Step 1- Upload your audio file to Reduct:
Upload audio from your computer, or import it from the web. Reduct supports a lot of audio formats, including mp3 & wav
Step 2- Select the portion of the transcript you want to redact:
All the uploaded audio is transcribed automatically in Reduct.
Additionally, each word in the transcript is synced with the spoken words in your audio. Therefore, selecting transcript text will allow you to select the portion of audio associated with the transcript.
Step 3- Use the redaction tool to redact the audio:
Once you select the words or phrases that need redacting, hit the ‘Redact selection’ button. Reduct will automatically mute the audio for the redacted portion and replace the transcript and caption with gray blocks.
Step 4- Download/share the redacted audio file:
Once done, you can export the entire audio file or parts of the audio by clicking on the download button. You can also download individual clips, or create reels - and the redactions you just made will be applied there, as well.
Much more than an audio redaction software
Audio redaction is a vital tool for protecting sensitive information from unauthorized access. With Reduct’s transcript-based audio redaction solution, you can redact audio files in 4 easy steps with confidence.
On top of Redacting audio, Reduct offers a range of other features, such as:
🔍 Make your recordings searchable.
🎥 Edit video as easily as editing text
☁️ Create a collaborative cloud repository of your recordings.
🧐 Synthesize and make sense of your raw videos.
And so much more... 🥳
