Originally published at: Never use pixelation to redact text | Boing Boing
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The only more amateurish attempts at redaction occur when PDFs are involved.
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“Inherently moist your ability”? That makes no sense!
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I once wrote an e-mail that someone wanted to use in a human rights tribunal case against our boss. The e-mail had already been included in the package of information shared with the “defendant” (I don’t know what they call that person in a HRT case) but my name was obscured by the complainant meaning it couldn’t be used as evidence.
Our boss was so peeved at the e-mail and the obscuring was done so poorly that his lawyer managed to uncover my name. While that was not so great for me at the time, he essentially just ensured that it could be used as evidence against him. Not a smart move.
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O_O who the heck did you work for?
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The tribunal here (Ontario) is for any human rights issues. In this case it was an unreasonable refusal of a request for a disability accommodation and a resulting termination.
The fun part was how he kept going around the office telling everyone he wasn’t a racist. She was the only Black employee but the case didn’t have anything to do with race.
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- Format the document using a fixed width font (Courier works well). If possible, don’t use lower case letters.
- Print it out.
- Using a marker, cardboard, and tape, physically obscure what you wish to keep hidden.
- Copy the document using a low quality copier.
- Fax the copy to the court.
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Oh, it’s in Canada! I am almost relieved to hear it was “only” a racist ableist. I hope they were nailed to the wall.
When I hear “human rights tribunal” I think war crimes, torture, genocide, etc.
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My GF works for a city, and she has had official PDFs that are supposed to be “redacted” basically highlighted in black. If you copy paste the text, it is all there.
It gets frustrating that she makes half what some of these old timers make, when they literally lack the knowledge to do their jobs correctly.
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By jove I think you’ve got it.
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There’s a scene in the Hidden Figures movie where Paul Stafford (Jim Parsons, playing to type), redacts top secret information by drawing over with a broad tip felt pen. Katherine Johnson (Taraji Henson) proceeds to hold the paper up to the light and easily sees the redacted information (the name of the upcoming Saturn rocket, among other things).
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So you put in fake text first and pixelalte then.
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Of course it’s Trump lackey and convicted felon Paul Manafort that’s highlighted here.
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I learned years ago that if you squint at a pixellated face, you could usually see it a lot better. Guess it forces your brain to fill in the gaps somehow.
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