This article explains how to use automated redaction rules in Blackout. It covers how to enable and manage rules, review automatically placed redactions, and remove individual automated redactions when needed.
Before You Begin
- Workspace Admins and above can manage automated redaction rules.
- Contributors and above can review and remove automatically placed redactions.
- Rules are configured at the workspace level.
- Automatically placed redactions are included in productions unless they are removed.
Automated redaction rules can process documents containing up to 100,000 characters. If a document exceeds this limit, automated redactions will not be placed.
Managing Automated Redaction Rules
Workspace Admins and above can manage automated redaction rules from the workspace settings.
Blackout supports the following automated redaction rules:
| Age | Organization | Social Security Number (SSN) |
| Bank Account Number | Passport Number | Street Address |
| Credit Card Number | Person | SWIFT Code |
| Date | Phone Number | Taxpayer ID (ITIN) |
| Date of Birth | Role | VIN |
| Email Address | Routing Number |
Opening the Rules Tab
- Navigate to the workspace.
- Open the workspace settings.
- Click the Rules tab.
By default, all rules are set to Skip. When the rules are first listed, a limited number are displayed first. Click View All to display the remaining rules.
Searching for Rules
Use the Search rules text field to locate a rule. The search will display any rules that contain the entered text.
Clearing the search field will return the full list.
Enabling Rules
To enable an automated redaction rule:
- Locate the rule to enable.
- Click the Toggle next to the rule name to enable the rule.
- Click Apply Changes.
Once the changes are applied, the enabled rules move to the top of the list and are immediately applied across all documents in the workspace.
Note: If you navigate away without clicking Apply Changes, your changes will not be saved.
Disabling Rules
To disable a previously enabled rule:
- Locate the rule to disable.
- Click the Toggle next to the rule name to disable the rule.
- Click Apply Changes.
Note: If you navigate away without clicking Apply Changes, your changes will not be saved.
How Automated Redactions Are Applied
When rules are enabled or disabled, changes are immediately reflected in documents that have already been processed in the workspace.
When a new document is uploaded to a workspace with automated redaction rules enabled, there may be a brief delay before the automated redactions appear while the document is processed.
Note: If automated redactions do not appear immediately after uploading a document, wait a moment and refresh the document.
Removing Automatically Placed Redactions
Contributors and above can remove an automatically placed redaction.
To remove an automated redaction:
- Locate the redaction in the Document Viewer.
- Right-click the redaction.
- Click Remove Redaction.
Note: If an automated redaction overlaps with a manual redaction, removing the automated redaction leaves the manual redaction in place.
Removing Redactions from Spreadsheet Tabs, Comments, Headers, and Footers
For sheet names, comments, headers, and footers, using Restore Original will also remove an automated redaction applied to that content.