While surfing the Interweb one day I saw this cartoon...

Reproduced with permission - Torstar Syndication Services

Once you get past the insanity of redacting menu items (though my willpower could probably benefit from the cheesecake being redacted), the sad truth is that Government agencies need to deal with exactly this kind of scenario every day. A UK news article illustrated the problem of silly questions asked under FOIA requests. The questions included...

• What preparations has the council made for an emergency landing of Santa's sleigh this Christmas?
  • Who would be responsible for rescuing Santa?
  • Who would be responsible for rounding up the reindeer?
  • Who would have to tidy the crash site? (Cheltenham Borough Council)
• How many drawing pins are in the building and what percentage is currently stuck in a pin board? (Hampshire County Council)
• What preparations has the council made for a zombie attack? (Bristol City Council and Leicester City Council)

While these inquiries are frustrating, they are made more difficult when each must be processed with professionalism, efficiency, and – most important – with consideration for security and privacy that is expected of the Government.

Jeff Brand, Adlib Product Manager has written a blog article about this very topic in the past.

What starts as a simple request can have ramifications. Before releasing the requested information, somebody has to take out sensitive information, such as

• Social security numbers
• Phone
• Date of birth
• Address
• Financial information (in the case of a contract that was awarded)
• Banking information
• Other information considered sensitive or secret

So whether you're looking to automate your organization-wide redaction management solution... or merely want to remove the desserts from your menu, Adlib has a number of Government solutions around NARA/LAC compliant archiving... digitization... and processes to help you with automated redaction.