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Even More Redaction Fails and What They Teach

Writer's picture: Jedidiah CassinelliJedidiah Cassinelli

Anyone managing sensitive information can learn valuable lessons from the previous posts we shared covering infamous redaction “fails." Now, we’re back to share more mistakes, flubs, and epic errors and how to avoid the same sort of pitfalls. 


The redaction fails below include some recent matters plucked from news headlines that you might’ve missed. 

 

Leaks are no laughing matter, but looking at where these organizations went wrong should help us all avoid repeating history. And, while it can be hard to tell what specific method of applying markups created the “redaction fails,” it can still be quite obvious what went wrong.




No.1 “Peekaboo! I (still) see you!” 

 

When you look at the data exposed by TikTok in their lawsuit with the Kentucky Attorney General’s Office, it’s very apparent Tiktok’s obfuscation method didn’t remove the actual text from their documents – they just placed an object over the text in the layers of the file. 

 

As a result:

“The unredacted documents show that TikTok employees were aware that too much time spent by teens on social media can be harmful to their mental health.”

Make sure your team knows that “even in a pinch” they must exclusively use approved tools that remove all layers and components of sensitive information marked for redaction.



No.2 “Copy and paste strikes again!” 

 

JetBlue’s attempted acquisition of Spirit Airlines faced a similar snafu where information included in the court filings remained visible when copy and pasted out of the documents. 


Jetblue then attempted to save face ahead of their court date, stating: “Taken out of context, [the information] creates a completely inaccurate picture of the facts.” 

 

Ultimately the merger was blocked, and Spirit Airlines declared bankruptcy. While the leak might not have been the sole reason for either event, the haphazard errors committed definitely didn’t help.

 

Sometimes software has limited editing options. Or to preserve information in the native file, people will attempt to camouflage text by changing the font color to match a highlight over that same text. However, exporting the document or locking its change history does not actually flatten or sanitize that sensitive information. 


As a result, a simple copy and paste or cursor highlight by opposing counsel reveals all.  



No.3 “Old school approach, rookie mistake.” 

 

Sadly, chameleonic color changes aren’t the only way to get it wrong when it comes to redactions. 

 

Sony made a critical error in their part of the FTC’s antitrust lawsuit against Microsoft by redacting documents with a Sharpie. While photocopying inked-up docs might’ve worked once upon a time, technology has advanced. 

 

Today’s scanning technology is advanced enough to translate ancient historical artifacts. So when Sony scanned Sharpied documents, the inked-up text actually became readable again. This was because the scanner used could differentiate the inks on the paper and render the text again in the digital copy of the document.

Redaction's come a long way thanks to tools like Blackout!
Redaction's come a long way thanks to tools like Blackout!

No. 4 “False confidence is a major flop!” 

 

Continuing with the FTC vs. Microsoft case, when preparing trial exhibits, Microsoft shared a link that contained the unredacted versions of requested documents. This revealed a treasure trove of exciting gaming news – spoiling a lot of intellectual property before it was ready for external audiences. 

 

Similarly, reckless “oversharing” caused an issue for Virginia’s Fairfax County Public Schools. This time, by including unnecessary documents in the matter, the legal team exposed student records with poor anonymization and missed redactions. 


Remember – reaching the final doc in the batch doesn’t mean your production is ready for sharing.



No.5 “Cutting corners never works out well.” 

 

The folks at Valve also committed an interesting redaction faux pas. While they successfully redacted parts of a document, enough contextual information visible for others to figure out the specific of their payroll data.

 

“The figures give a more detailed picture of how much Valve is spending on its staff — which, given the massive popularity of Steam, is probably still just a fraction of the money the company is pulling in.”

This humiliating reveal not only compromised the integrity of a legal matter but also exposed major competitive vulnerabilities in their business structure.

 


Problem solved? 


Reviewers can think they’ve been thorough, but the redaction technology they use should also help with quality control and flag when they aren’t. Its design should account for and prevent common user errors, facilitate the easy removal of hidden objects, and simplify the redaction of relevant contextual information. 


There’s no silver bullet to avoiding redaction mistakes like these, but keeping them in mind when preparing a case - not to mention using award-winning, industry-leading redaction tools as part of your process - can be a big help to ensuring you and your clients aren’t making the news in such a way that you end up on the next installment of this list.


While compiling this edition, we found so many examples, we’ve already slated a fourth installment into our blog calendar.


So, until then... Happy redacting!

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