How Insurance Companies Use AI Redaction Software to Redact Call Recordings

In this blog, we’ll explore how AI redaction software for insurance companies is helping teams tackle this challenge by automating the redaction process at scale.

Large insurance firms handle over 100,000 calls every month—many of which are recorded and stored for years. Over time, this adds up to hundreds of terabytes of legacy call data, much of it unredacted and unstructured.

Manually reviewing just 1,000 hours of audio could take more than 125 full workdays for a single reviewer. At that scale, redacting sensitive data without automation isn’t just inefficient—it’s impossible.

Call recordings are a rich source of customer insight—but they’re also a growing privacy risk for insurance companies. Over the years, insurers accumulate thousands of hours of recorded calls containing personally identifiable information (PII), protected health information (PHI), and financial details. 

With tighter regulations and aging infrastructure, many insurers are asking: "How can we efficiently redact sensitive data from old call recordings—without disrupting compliance or operations?”

Why Old Call Recordings Are a Liability for Insurers

Insurers are required to retain recorded calls for a range of use cases—from claims reviews to quality assurance. But as these audio files build up over time, they start to introduce serious data privacy risks. Here’s why:

• Most contain PII and PHI, including names, dates of birth, policy numbers, and health-related details.
• They’re often stored on Linux file servers, accessed via NFS or Samba shares, and span hundreds of terabytes.
• Many were recorded years ago, before regulations like GDPR, CCPA, and HIPAA were fully enforced.

As a result, insurers face:

• Compliance violations if sensitive data is stored or shared unredacted
• Legal risks from exposure in breaches or mishandling
• Operational friction when recordings can’t be used or shared securely

The longer these call recordings remain unredacted, the greater the liability.

What Needs to Be Redacted? (And Why It’s Not Easy)

Redacting call recordings isn’t like redacting a document. You’re dealing with natural conversation, often buried in hours of audio. Detecting sensitive information in speech takes more than manual review—it requires intelligence and scale.

For instance, a caller might say, “My name is Sarah Thompson, and my policy number is 8745-23-991.” Unlike text, that information isn’t neatly labeled or formatted. It’s embedded in real-time speech, which varies in speed, accent, and clarity. Spotting and redacting that data manually across thousands of calls isn’t just difficult—it’s nearly impossible.

Common Data That Must Be Redacted:

• PII: names, emails, phone numbers, Social Security numbers
• PHI: diagnoses, treatments, medication details
• Financial data: payment card numbers, account details
• Policy identifiers: claim numbers, coverage details
• Third-party info: witness names, provider contacts

Why It’s Challenging:

• Files are unstructured and vary in format
• Recordings are stored across network-mounted Linux environments
• Manual redaction is time-consuming and prone to error
• Insurers need to retain original files for audits while sharing redacted versions for operations
• Many teams want to migrate to cloud platforms for secure storage

Traditional methods like listening to each recording and manually muting sensitive content are no longer sustainable.

What AI Redaction Software Brings to the Table

This is where AI redaction software for insurance companies is changing the game. These platforms are designed to automatically redact call recordings using advanced features such as:

• Speech-to-text transcription and auto-summarization for fast audio analysis
• PII/PHI detection using natural language processing
• Secure redact workflows to mute or bleep detected segments
• Non-destructive processing that creates redacted copies without altering originals
• Integration with SMB, Azure Blob Storage, and Google Cloud Storage etc to support hybrid infrastructures

Instead of relying on human reviewers or outdated tools, AI handles the heavy lifting at speed and scale.

AI Redaction + Summarization: A Double Win for QA Teams

Redacting sensitive data is just the first step. Leading insurance companies are now going a step further by using the same AI tools to summarize calls and support their quality assurance efforts.

Once redacted, these calls can be automatically transcribed and summarized using AI—surfacing insights like agent sentiment, issue resolution status, policy topics discussed, and compliance red flags.

This gives QA teams more than just raw recordings—it gives them structured insights without hours of manual review.

Benefits of AI Summarization for Insurance Companies:

• Quickly understand what each call was about
• Flag non-compliant phrases or tone shifts
• Review large call volumes without increasing headcount
• Improve agent training based on real customer conversations

Whether you’re handling internal audits or external compliance checks, summarization adds another layer of intelligence and efficiency to call center operations.

Best Practices for Redacting Insurance Call Recordings at Scale

Once your team adopts an AI-powered solution, the next step is to build a workflow that balances compliance, security, and operational efficiency. Here are five key practices followed by insurers using AI redaction software to redact call recordings:

1. Start with the Most Recent Recordings

Begin redaction with calls from the past 6–12 months. These are the most likely to be referenced in active claims, audits, or training. Then work backwards through the archive.

This incremental approach helps reduce immediate risk while keeping day-to-day operations compliant.

2. Use AI to Automate PII Detection

Modern software uses natural language processing and named entity recognition to detect patterns like:

• Names
• Dates of birth
• Social Security numbers
• Health conditions
• Credit card numbers

This eliminates the need for manual scanning or predefined keyword lists, while improving accuracy and speed.

3. Preserve Original and Redacted Versions

Your redaction workflow should never alter the original file. Instead, AI redaction tools should:

• Create a new, redacted audio copy
• Store both versions securely
• Maintain a metadata link for easy reference and auditing

This ensures regulatory requirements are met without risking data integrity.

4. Secure the Redaction Pipeline

Redacting sensitive audio is just one piece of the puzzle. The full pipeline—from access to output—should follow enterprise-grade security standards, including:

• Granular access control
• End-to-end encryption (at rest and in transit)
• SSO integration
• Detailed audit logs of who accessed or redacted what

This is especially important when dealing with large teams or distributed departments. VIDIZMO's Redactor offers all these features.

5. Enable Cloud Export for Scalability

As many insurers shift to cloud infrastructure, your AI redaction software should support:

• Exporting redacted files to external cloud storage
• Custom file naming and tagging for automated indexing
• Seamless scaling as data volumes grow

This makes long-term storage and retrieval faster, safer, and more cost-effective.

Final Thoughts: AI Redaction Isn’t a Nice-to-Have—It’s a Must-Have

Insurance companies can no longer afford to treat legacy call recordings as low-risk assets. These files often contain high-value personal and medical data, and leaving them unredacted opens the door to fines, breaches, and operational delays.

By adopting AI redaction software for insurance companies, teams can:

• Redact call recordings quickly and accurately
• Support quality assurance teams with AI-powered call summaries and compliance flags
• Stay compliant with laws like HIPAA, CCPA, and GDPR
• Enable secure sharing and faster claims handling
• Future-proof their infrastructure by integrating with cloud systems

The reality is simple: If your organization is still handling redaction manually, you're exposing yourself to unnecessary risk—and cost.

The best time to start redacting old call data was years ago. The second-best time is now.

People Also Ask

What is audio redaction in insurance?

Audio redaction in insurance means removing or hiding sensitive information—like names, Social Security numbers, or medical details—from recorded phone calls.

Why do insurance companies need to redact call recordings?

Insurance companies need to protect customer privacy and follow laws like GDPR, HIPAA, and CCPA. Redacting call recordings helps avoid data breaches and fines.

What kind of data should be redacted from insurance calls?

Common data includes names, addresses, birth dates, medical information, financial details, and policy numbers—anything that can identify a person.

How do insurers redact personal information from old audio files?

They use software that scans the audio, finds sensitive information using AI, and either mutes it or replaces it with a beep, while keeping the rest of the call.

Can audio redaction be automated for large call archives?

Yes. Many redaction tools can handle thousands of files at once, automatically finding and redacting sensitive content without needing manual work.

What tools help with secure audio redaction in insurance?

Tools like VIDIZMO Redactor and other AI-powered platforms are built to securely redact audio. They support automation, security, and cloud storage.

How do insurance companies store redacted calls in the cloud?

They usually move redacted copies to cloud storage like AWS S3, while keeping the original files separate and secure.

Is redacting audio required by law?

While the law doesn’t always say “you must redact,” privacy rules do require that sensitive data be protected. Redacting audio helps meet that requirement.

What happens if insurers don’t redact sensitive call recordings?

They risk exposing private information, facing legal action, and paying large fines. It also damages customer trust and the company’s reputation.