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Adobe Pro, when used properly, will redact anything in a PDF permanently. Whoever did these "bad" redactions doesn't even know how to use a PDF Editor. We hav
by unfocused 9mo ago
Adobe Pro, when used properly, will redact anything in a PDF permanently.
Whoever did these "bad" redactions doesn't even know how to use a PDF Editor.
We have paralegals and lawyers "mark for redaction", then review the documents, then "apply redactions". It's literally be done by thousands of lawyers/paralegals for decades. This is just someone not following the process and procedure, and making mistakes. It's actually quite amateurish. You should never, ever screw up redactions if you follow the proper process. Good on the X-ray project on trying to find errors.
I just want to add, applying black highlights on top of text is in fact, the "old" way of redaction, as it was common to do this, and then simply print the paper with the black bars, and send the paper as the final product.
Whoever did it is probably old, and may have done it thinking they were going to print it on paper afterwards!! Just guessing as to why someone would do this.
- tgsovlerkhgsel 9mo agoOr they may not understand how PDF works and think that it's the same as paper. Especially with the "draw a black box over it" method, the text also stops being trivially mouse-selectable (even if CTRL+A might still work). Another possibility is, of course, that whoever was responsible for this knew exactly what they were doing, but this way they can claim a honest mistake rather than intentionally leaking the data.
- zahlman 9mo ago> Or they may not understand how PDF works and think that it's the same as paper. Yes; that's presumably included in being "amateurish" and "not following proper process".
- aidos 9mo agoA while back I did a little work with a company that were meant to help us improve our security posture. I terminated the contract after they sent me documents in which they’d redacted their own AWS keys using this method.
- selectodude 9mo agoAny attorney or law enforcement that works for the US Federal Government receives very, very comprehensive instructions on how to redact information on basically the first day of training. There is absolutely zero doubt among any of my DOGE'd friends that this was 100 percent on purpose malicious compliance.
- unfocused 9mo agoAgreed. I worked on the Canadian side of the legal side and there is a very comprehensive process for redaction. Nobody does redaction unless they follow the process. Never seen anyone 15+ years do something silly like this in the office.
- hsbauauvhabzb 9mo agoSo you think it was trump supporters as opposed to in spite of trump? Genuine question - Who stands to gain? I don’t follow this enough to know.
- selectodude 9mo agoNo, it’s lifelong civil servants who received the order to wholesale redact these documents from the Trump toady leading the department.
- hsbauauvhabzb 9mo agoI’m not sure what’s unredactable, but naming victims isn’t something I imagine either party is particularly interested in doing. I imagine the HN malicious // ineptitude rule is in play here, rather than some sub conspiracy conspiracy.
- selectodude 9mo agoDonald Trump is not a victim.
- 9mo ago