Blur and redact

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Overview

Automatic and manual redaction help you protect sensitive information in the data you bring into Dovetail. Dovetail can redact the text of data points that sources import or that you upload in a CSV file, and it can blur, mute, and redact videos, audio, and transcripts in projects. This also helps teams move through analysis faster by reducing review and clean-up time. Redactions and blurring will also be applied to relevant highlights in your project and their references within docs across your workspace. If a highlight has already been used elsewhere before redaction is applied, those existing references will need to be updated to display the redacted version. Learn more about updating references →

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Who can redact and restore data

• Manual redaction can be performed and restored by any user with Full access or Can edit permissions in a project.
• Source redaction is chosen by workspace admins when they create a source. Workspace admins and the user who connected the source can change it later. See Redact data from sources.
• CSV redaction is chosen by the user who uploads a CSV file to a channel. See CSV files uploaded to a channel.
• What gets redacted is configured by workspace admins in Settings → Compliance → Data redaction. See Choose what gets redacted.

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Redaction is set where data comes in

Dovetail redacts data as it comes in, so you choose whether data is redacted where it arrives. Redaction is a setting on how data comes in, not on the project or channel that holds it. There’s no workspace-level setting that turns redaction on for all new data, and projects and channels don’t have redaction settings of their own.

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Redact data from sources

When a workspace admin creates a source, they choose whether Dovetail redacts the data it imports, with the Auto-redact sensitive info setting. It’s Off by default, and a source’s data isn’t redacted unless it’s turned on. When redaction is on, Dovetail redacts sensitive information in each data point as the source imports it, using your workspace’s redaction settings, before the data point reaches any channel. Redacted text appears as a [redacted] marker, and the data stays redacted wherever it appears, including in channels and Chat. Each redacted data point uses 1 more credit. See Credits and usage. You can change the setting later. The change applies only to data the source imports afterward. To redact data that’s already been imported, contact Dovetail support at support@dovetail.com.

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What redaction covers

For data points from sources and CSV uploads, redaction covers the text Dovetail analyzes in each data point and its AI summary. It doesn’t cover a data point’s title or fields, or the email addresses Dovetail uses to link data points to contacts. Blur video and Redact audio and transcript apply to recordings in projects. They don’t apply to data from sources or CSV uploads, which is text.

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CSV files uploaded to a channel

When you upload a CSV file to a channel, you choose whether to redact the text in the file. The choice can’t be changed after the file is uploaded. See Upload a CSV.

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Recordings uploaded to projects

When you import recordings to a project, whether from your computer or a connected app such as Zoom or Google Drive, the import settings ask whether to Automatically redact data. It’s off by default, and the choice applies to every file in that import. See Import video or audio files.

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Recordings from calendar connections

Each calendar configuration that sends recordings to a project has its own Automatically redact data setting, so you choose whether recordings from that connection are redacted. Set it when you configure the calendar in Settings → Connected apps. See Google Calendar and Microsoft Outlook Calendar.

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Choose what gets redacted

Workspace admins decide how Dovetail identifies sensitive information in Settings → Compliance → Data redaction. These settings apply wherever Dovetail redacts data automatically: in sources, in CSV uploads, and in projects. By default, the prompt asks Dovetail to look for common types of personal information, such as names, addresses, email addresses, phone numbers, and bank details. To change it:

1. Go to Settings → Compliance → Data redaction.
2. Edit the Instructions prompt to guide how sensitive content is detected, such as specifying terms, identifiers, or data types that should always be masked.
3. Select Save to apply changes.

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Always redact and never redact

In addition to the Instructions prompt, you can maintain explicit lists of terms to always or never redact. These lists give you precise, rule-based control that overrides the AI’s own judgment.

• Always redact: Terms added here are always redacted, even if the AI misses them. These terms are case-sensitive.
• Never redact: Terms added here are never redacted, even if the AI flags them. These terms are case-sensitive.

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Blur and audio/transcript toggles

You can also control what gets redacted beyond just text. These toggles apply to videos in projects:

• Blur video: Toggle on to blur the full screen of the redacted video, covering visual details. Toggle off to leave video visuals untouched.
• Redact audio and transcript: Toggle on to mute all audio and hide the transcription text for redacted sections. Toggle off to leave audio and transcript untouched.

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Reviewing grouped suggested redactions

When Dovetail suggests redactions on a transcript, the suggestions are grouped by term so you can review repeated instances together rather than one by one.

• Use the arrow navigation on each redaction card to move between instances of the same term.
• To accept or reject all instances of a term at once, use the Accept all or Reject all buttons in the sidebar.
• To accept a single instance, click Accept directly from the transcript toolbar.

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Updating the redaction prompt for existing data

Updating the Instructions prompt will only apply to new imports. Existing transcripts and data that sources have already imported won’t automatically reprocess with the updated instructions. To apply the new prompt to already imported transcripts:

1. Save your updated prompt in Settings → Compliance → Data redaction
2. Navigate to the previously imported transcripts
3. Reject all existing suggested redactions
4. Click Suggest to reprocess the transcript using the new prompt

This will generate a fresh set of redaction suggestions based on your updated instructions.

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Manually redact sections of your video and transcript

Users with Full or Can edit access to the project can redact individual sections from videos within notes. This includes blurring, muting all audio, and hiding the text shown in the transcript. Redactions can’t overlap. If you try to redact a range that intersects an existing redaction, you’ll need to edit or remove the existing one first.

• To redact a specific section of a video, highlight a section of text in the transcript and select Redact from the action menu.
• From there, you can choose to redact video, audio, and transcript, or both, from the redaction modal and press Redact.

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The redactions sidebar

The Redactions sidebar is the main place to manage redactions on a note. From here you can:

• View every redaction on the note — timestamp, redacted text, who applied it (AI or a user)
• Click a redaction card to jump straight to that point in the transcript
• Edit the blur/audio settings on an existing redaction
• Remove a redaction from just this note, or across the whole project
• Select multiple redactions and remove them in bulk

When redaction actions are disabled:

• The file is still processing
• The project is read-only, or the data is locked
• The transcript is too short (roughly under 50 characters)
• You don’t have permission to remove redactions (see Security settings)

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Blur an entire video

• To blur an entire video:
  1. Click ••• in the top right corner of the video
  2. Select Blur video.
• If you wish to unblur an entire video, click ••• again and press Unblur video.

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Restore redacted data

You can restore video data that has been blurred or muted and redacted text from within a transcript. Any user with Full access or Can edit access to the project can restore redacted data. To restore redacted data:

1. Navigate to the redacted section within the transcript and click on it
2. From there, press Edit redaction from within the action menu
3. From here, use the toggles to restore the redacted data.

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Bulk un-redact data in Projects

You are always in control of the redactions applied to your data. If you applied redactions in error, your privacy requirements have changed, or redactions were applied too broadly, you can remove them at any time across a single data point or an entire project.

1. Open the options menu ••• on any data point in your project.
2. Select Remove redactions.
3. Confirm to apply the changes.

You can also remove redactions across multiple data points at once. In the data tab, select the data points you want to update, then open the options menu ••• and select Remove redactions.

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Workspace-level control over un-redacting

Workspace admins can control who is able to remove redactions from Security settings. This can be restricted to Admins only or left open to Anyone with access. When set to Admins only, no other user in the workspace will be able to remove redactions, regardless of their access to the project. This gives organizations with strict data governance requirements a way to enforce tighter control over redacted content. If you are unable to remove redactions, check with your workspace admin to confirm the setting in Security settings.

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Troubleshooting redactions

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FAQ

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