Reversible Redaction

Replace sensitive data with placeholders you can restore later

4 min readAuthor: Redactorr Support Team · [email protected]Last reviewed: March 2026

Reversible Redaction: Your Data, Temporarily Disguised

Most redaction tools are one-way streets. Once you redact, that data is gone forever. Redactorr is different - it uses reversible redaction, which means you can get your original data back whenever you need it.

The Concept

Think of it like a valet service:

You hand over your car (sensitive data)
They give you a ticket (redacted item)
Later, you return the ticket and get your exact car back

How It Works

When Redacting: 1. Redactorr finds "[email protected]" 2. Replaces it with [EMAIL_1] 3. Stores the mapping: [EMAIL_1] → [email protected] 4. Saves the mapping in your browser's local storage

When Restoring: 1. You paste the redacted text back into Redactorr 2. Click "Restore" 3. Redactorr looks up each redacted item in the map 4. Swaps redacted items back for original values

Magic: Your original data returns.

Real-World Use Case

You're sharing a customer support transcript with your dev team to debug an issue. The transcript contains customer emails and phone numbers.

Redact**

1 / 1

Paste the transcript into Redactorr. It becomes:

text

Customer [EMAIL_1] called [PHONE_1] about order [ORDER_1].
Rep [NAME_1] offered refund.

Share this safely with your dev team.

Restore**

1 / 1

After the bug is fixed, paste the redacted transcript back into Redactorr. Click "Restore". Original data returns:

text

Customer [email protected] called (555) 987-6543 about order #ORD-456.
Rep John Smith offered refund.

Redaction Map Storage

The redaction map is stored in your browser's IndexedDB:

Handled as browser-side review state during redaction
Persists across sessions (until you clear it)
Can be exported for backup or sharing (encrypted)
Can be deleted anytime

Security Considerations

Is the redaction map a security risk?

The redaction map alone is useless. An attacker would need: 1. The redaction map 2. The redacted document 3. Access to your browser's local storage

If someone has all three, you have bigger problems.

Can I make it more secure?

Yes! Use Secure Share to encrypt the redaction map with a password. Now even if someone gets the map, they can't read it without the password.

When to Use Restoration

Temporary Sharing Redact for external review, restore internally after feedback.

Audit Compliance Store redacted logs long-term, restore specific entries when auditors request details.

Testing Workflows Test your app with redacted data, restore when debugging failures.

Cross-Team Collaboration Share sanitized data across teams, restore for privileged users.

When NOT to Use Restoration

Permanent Deletion If you want data gone forever, don't use reversible redaction. Use one-way redaction or deletion.

External Sharing (No Return) If you're sending data to a third party and don't need it back, skip the redaction map.

Compliance Requirements Some regulations require irreversible deletion. Check your compliance needs.

Exporting the Redaction Map

Click "Export Redaction Map" to save it as a JSON file:

json

{
  "version": "1.0",
  "createdAt": "2026-01-06T14:30:00Z",
  "mappings": {
    "[EMAIL_1]": "[email protected]",
    "[EMAIL_2]": "[email protected]",
    "[PHONE_1]": "(555) 123-4567"
  }
}

Store this file securely. Anyone with this file can restore your data.