Protect Data Privacy and Ensure Compliance with Best Redaction Software

According to reports, more than 322 million individuals in the United States were affected by data exposures. Explore how to avoid data exposure and ensure compliance with the best redaction software. 

With growing privacy concerns, redaction failures, and the increasing need to comply with data privacy regulations such as HIPAA, CCPA, FERPA, CJIS, the ABA Model Rules of Professional Conduct, and GDPR, it is essential to prioritize selecting the best redaction software to safeguard sensitive data across your data - whether videos, audio, images, and documents. 

To help in the process, several redaction software have emerged on the market today. The best redaction software should offer robust features, deliver accurate results, be user-friendly and secure, and ideally include automation and AI capabilities to simplify your redaction workflow and help you avoid non-compliance with data privacy regulations and information access requests.

However, with multiple options in the market, selecting the ideal tool can be challenging and time-consuming. Fortunately, you're in the right place. This blog compares the eight best redaction software, highlighting essential features based on extensive market research and our decade of industry experience in this domain. 

Why Choose the Best Redaction Software? 

Using outdated, manual redaction methods or workflows puts your compliance at risk. Traditional methods are time-consuming, labor-intensive, and prone to errors and potential non-compliance, which can result in costly consequences. 

Read more about how manual redaction exposed Sony’s confidential data.

The best redaction software offers a user-friendly tool that allows both manual selection and automatic identification of sensitive content—such as Personally Identifiable Information (PII), Protected Health Information (PHI), and Confidential Commercial Information (CCI)—protecting it from unauthorized access in videos, audio, images, and documents. This approach saves time and resources and ensures compliance. 

Best redaction software goes a step further by automating the identification and redaction of confidential information, ensuring compliance with data privacy regulations, helping prevent costly consequences, and offering a comprehensive and advanced solution for organizations.   

AI-powered redaction allows tracking subjects of interest (such as a running person in a video). It then places a black box, blurs out, or pixelates the sensitive content to cover the redacted elements. 

Let us look at some of the big names in the redaction software industry. This will help you make an informed decision and make the right investment for your organization’s long-term needs. 

8 Best Redaction Software for Data Privacy and Compliance 

Here is a list of the best redaction software, and we have compared them feature-by-feature to help you make an informed decision.  

VIDIZMO Redactor

VIDIZMO has a constantly improving proprietary redaction tool called VIDIZMO Redactor.

VIDIZMO Redactor uses VIDIZMO Indexer to power its AI. This allows it to perform automatic redaction through multiple capabilities, including automatic pattern recognition, object detection and tracking, Optical Character Recognition, and spoken PII redaction.  

With this tool, redaction can be done in bulk for faces, people, and other PII stored across audio images and documents. Redaction can also be done for custom-defined objects such as license plates, addresses, symbols, weapons like guns & rifles, and other elements in videos.  

Key Features of VIDIZMO Redactor:

• Extensive deployment options – on the cloud, on-premises, or as SaaS
• Automatic and Manual Redaction, meeting current market demands 
• Bulk redaction capabilities for multiple documents, images, and audio files. 
• Multi-format supports various file formats across video, audio, document, and images. 
• Supports compliances with CJIS, HIPAA, GPDR, FOIA, CCPA, GIPA, FERPA
• Option to blur, pixelate, or cover sensitive content with a black box
• Data security through access control and industry-standard encryption 
• Integration capabilities through widgets and APIs   
• Original files can be retained or overwritten with configurable retention and redaction copy 
• Multi-lingual translation and transcription of up to 40+ languages
• It can be provided as a standalone tool or an add-on with either of VIDIZMO’s products. 

Veritone Redact

Veritone has its redaction tool, Veritone Redact, aimed at law enforcement data, judicial agencies, and legal and compliance teams. 

The tool uses aiWARE to power its AI to auto-detect sensitive information. The detection results are displayed chronologically alongside the tool’s video player. The player supports downloads of the redacted file alongside an audit log of all its changes.   

Key Features of Veritone Redact

• Automatic and Manual redaction  
• Specifically designed for digital evidence and law enforcement  
• Can redact faces, license plates, and laptop screens, as well as custom-defined elements  
• Offers support for audio, image, and video redaction 
• Integrated with VERITONE’s digital evidence system  
• Works for video, audio, and images  
• Redacted files can be downloaded

Axon Redaction Assistant

Axon is one of the oldest contenders in the law enforcement industry. Formerly known as TASER, the company has its redaction tool, Axon Redaction Assistant.   

The tool has been mentioned to detect up to twenty faces at a time. Besides faces, the tool can redact MDTs and license plates as well.   

The tool can also be used manually for added accuracy, is claimed to be constantly improving, and can be executed as a background task. It also exists as an add-on for Axon Evidence.   

Key Features of AXON Redaction Assistant:

• Capable of redacting up to twenty faces simultaneously  
• Capable of redacting faces, license plates, and MDT screens  
• Automatic and Manual Redaction  
• Background execution  
• Integration possible with AXON Evidence and other AXON products

CaseGuard Video Redaction Software

CaseGuard’s product, CaseGuard Redaction Software, is a standalone  redaction tool that allows for redaction in both automatic and manual modes.   

To be more specific, redaction can be performed on a video in automatic mode with the power of AI, in a manual object tracking mode where the user specifies an object to be redacted, which is later tracked and redacted throughout the video. Caseguard also offers support for audio, images, and documents. 

The last is simple manual redaction through masking with boxes, with no tracking of objects.  

Key Features of CaseGuard Video Redaction Software:

• AI-powered redaction of faces, license plates, monitor screens, phone screens, people, vehicles, notebooks, and credit cards and cheques in videos and images
• Supports redaction for video, audio, documents, and imagery  
• Automatic and Manual Redaction  
• Automatic Bulk Redaction  
• Simple user-interface  
• It offers collaborative redaction support with its Redaction Pool feature, which allows users to collaborate on redaction tasks. 
• Tracking of detected elements throughout the video 

Motorola WatchGuard REDACTIVE

REDACTIVE by Motorola Solutions allows for the automatic detection of faces, people, vehicles, license plates, and small objects and enables the user to manually choose which of these are to be redacted and which are not.  

The tool can also scan the entire video backward and forward for any manually redacted element at any point in the video. The tool is also applicable for audio redaction.  

Key Features of Motorola Solution REDACTIVE:  

• Automatic and Manual Redaction  
• Able to detect faces, people, vehicles, license plates, and small objects  
• Tracking of detected elements back and forth in the video
• Available for audio and video redaction
  
• Platform independent software

Sighthound Redactor

Sighthound Redactor is an AI-powered software designed to automate the redaction of sensitive information in videos, images, and audio files. It utilizes advanced computer vision algorithms to detect and redact faces, vehicles, license plates, and other identifiable information, ensuring privacy and compliance with data protection regulations.

Key Features of Sighthound Redactor:

• Automatic Redaction to auto-detect and redact sensitive content across videos and images, including faces, vehicles, and license plates.  
• Allows users to manually draw redaction boxes around specific objects for precise control.  
• Tracking of detected elements back and forth in the video
• Available for audio and video redaction
  
• Platform independent software
• Provides a user-friendly interface with multi-language support, catering to a diverse user base

Genetec Clearance Redaction Tool

Genetec Clearance has a built-in redaction tool that allows for redaction on-demand, with each upload automatically scanned for facial detection.  

The tool then provides liberty to the user to choose which faces are meant to be redacted and add additional masks for redacting other elements in the video.  

As part of their Clearance digital evidence management system, a video can be redacted, reviewed, and directly added to a case using the tool.  

Key Features of Genetec Clearance Redaction Tool: 

• Redaction tool built-in with the evidence management system  
• Automatic face detection for redaction
• Automatic and Manual redaction
• Faces can be labeled 
• Object redaction based on custom masks
• Easy-to-use interface

SuspectTech Exact Redact

SuspectTech (Suspect Technologies) has a redaction tool named Exact Redact. The tool provides automatic and manual redaction of video and audio data.

Using the tool, faces, people, and cars can be automatically redacted, whereas manual redaction can be used for audio and custom identifiable information. Their focus is on meeting the compliance needs specified in CJIS.

Key Features of SuspectTech Exact Redact:

• Automatic redaction of faces, cars, and people  
• Manual redaction of objects  
• Audio redactions present through manual mode
• Deployment options for Azure Government Cloud, on-premises, and desktop application

Why VIDIZMO Redactor is the Best Redaction Software

As several redaction software are available on the market, you need to choose the one that suits your needs and performs accurate redaction for your videos, audio, images, and documents to ensure compliance.

Moreover, you must consider the auto and manual redaction capabilities to increase productivity and accuracy. Other features like interface, integrations, and security capabilities must also be considered to comprehensively protect your data.

VIDIZIMO Redactor constantly improves with frequent new releases that add new features and improvements. The tool uses AI-based capabilities to automatically detect faces, people, and custom-defined objects such as license plates, addresses, symbols, and other elements in a video file.  

Let's have a look at a few specific features that give VIDIZMO the edge over several other providers of redaction tools and services, such as those enlisted below:  

• Robust Security for Data Privacy and Compliance: Ensure data privacy and regulatory compliance with VIDIZMO Redactor’s secure, centralized repository. It includes industry-standard encryption, SSO integration, domain and IP restrictions, and granular access controls to manage your workflow efficiently.
• AI-Powered Search for Quick Data Retrieval: Quickly locate and redact specific faces, objects, or sensitive information with AI-enhanced search.
• Automated Redaction Capabilities: Automate your redaction with object detection & tracking, facial attribute prediction for age, gender, or emotions, and spoken PII redaction to remove sensitive spoken content.
• Multi-file Format Support: VIDIZMO Redactor supports over 255 file formats, enabling seamless redaction across various media types, including videos (MP4, AVI, MOV, WMV), audio (MP3, WAV, AAC), images (PNG, JPEG, BMP), and documents (PDF, DOCX, TXT).
• On-Demand Face Detection: Unlike many providers, VIDIZMO Redactor allows face detection upon video upload, enabling seamless redaction.
• Simultaneous Auto & Manual Redaction: While most redaction tools require separate executions for automatic and manual redaction, VIDIZMO Redactor allows both processes to be performed on a single file simultaneously, streamlining the workflow.

This blog article is part of our complete guide on redaction software. Do check it out.

People Also Ask

What is redaction software? 

Redaction software is a tool used to securely remove or obscure sensitive information from documents, images, videos, and audio. It typically offers features like text and image redaction, metadata removal, search and redact, and security measures like encryption. 

What is video redaction? 

Video redaction is the process of hiding or removing sensitive information from video files. The information can include PII, names, faces, email addresses, SSNs, license plates, and many other confidential information.  

What is the best redaction software?

Best redaction software is one that automates your redaction process and comprehensively helps you redact sensitive information to avoid data exposure, including Personally Identifiable Information (PII) or Protected Health Information (PHI) from your video data in order to comply with data privacy regulations, avoid data exposure as well as mitigate the risk of data breaches.

How do you choose the best redaction software?

Selecting the right redaction software requires considering key factors like AI-powered automation for efficiency and strong security features to protect sensitive data. Multi-format support ensures flexibility, while an intuitive interface enhances usability. Lastly, choose a scalable solution that integrates seamlessly with your existing systems.

Is redaction irreversible? 

The redaction process is irreversible if you do it on the original file. The obscured data cannot be recovered. However, the best way to keep the redacted data is to create a duplicate file and then conduct the redaction process on it.