In one sentence
New on the platform: a PDF redaction that does not paint over sensitive passages but re-typesets the document — the redacted information no longer exists in the file you hand over, and the AI proposes the candidates to you beforehand.
The black bar is a trap
A black rectangle over a name looks like redaction, but often it is not. In many PDFs the text beneath the bar remains unchanged in the file and can be restored in seconds by selecting, copying and pasting. This category of mishap is well known: documents passed on as redacted whose concealed passages could be read straight from the clipboard. The underlying problem is rarely carelessness in an individual case — it is a tool that does something other than what it shows.
Our approach: re-typesetting instead of painting over
That is why PDF redaction in SmartLegalPro paints over nothing. The output document is re-typeset: confirmed passages are removed from the text before the redacted PDF is even created. There is no hidden text layer that could be copied out — what you hand over physically no longer contains the removed information.
The AI proposes, you decide
On starting, the AI searches the document for typical candidates: names, addresses, account details, health data. The result is a list of suggestions, not a decision. You review each finding in context, discard suggestions, mark additional passages — and only once you confirm is the document re-typeset. The suggestions are an assessment, not a substitute for your own review.
Typical use cases
- GDPR subject access request involving third parties: records in which, alongside the person entitled to the information, third parties also appear whose data must be reliably removed — not merely hidden from view.
- File inspection with protected participants: for instance where witnesses or other participants must not be identifiable to the opposing side.
- Anonymised templates and samples: a well-crafted pleading as a template or work sample, without client data travelling along with it.
Straight from your files — and honest about the limits
Redaction starts where your documents already are: directly from your document storage, with no detour via a third-party tool. At the same time: no automatic detection is guaranteed to find every sensitive passage. A person can also be inferred from paraphrases or from a context that no pattern captures. The AI speeds up the review — the final check before handover stays with a human. A document that leaves the firm should be signed off by a person.
Not the same as PII masking
Two features, two jobs: PII masking protects personal data during AI processing — it masks before a document is analysed, and works inwards. PDF redaction, by contrast, produces a final document that you can hand over to the outside world. Anyone who needs both uses both.
More on the Anwaltsportal: For lawyers.
