> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.velatir.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Redaction

> Strip sensitive content from pasted text on the device, before it reaches an AI tool.

## What Is Redaction?

Redaction is a [Data Protector](/agents/data-protector) capability. When someone pastes content into a supported AI tool, Data Protector analyses the pasted text **on the device** and removes anything that matches the categories you protect, then lets the person decide how to proceed. The sensitive content is stripped before it reaches the AI service.

Because the analysis runs locally, this is different from a normal assessment: the pasted content is **never sent to Velatir**. The sensitive content stays out of the AI service without the paste becoming a dead end.

<Note>
  Redaction is in **beta** and, for now, applies to **pasted content** in supported AI tools. It builds on the **Clipboard assessment** capability and takes effect only when the Data Protector is an **Enforcer**. It runs through [Velatir for Desktop](/desktop-app/overview) and the browser extension.
</Note>

## How It Works

<Steps>
  <Step title="Someone pastes" icon="clipboard">
    A user pastes text into a supported AI tool in the browser.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Velatir analyses it on the device" icon="cpu">
    Data Protector inspects the pasted text locally, against the categories you have turned Redaction on for. Nothing is sent to Velatir for this step.
  </Step>

  <Step title="The user decides" icon="check">
    The user sees a redacted version, with matched content replaced by placeholders, and chooses how to proceed. Only their chosen result continues to the AI tool.
  </Step>
</Steps>

## What Gets Redacted

Redaction acts on the same [categories](/agents/data-protector#what-it-catches) the Data Protector already protects — Credentials, Personal data, and Financial data. You choose which of them to redact from pasted text; there is no separate list to maintain. Turn Redaction on for a category and its sensitive content is stripped on paste.

## Turn On Redaction

<Steps>
  <Step title="Make the Data Protector an Enforcer" icon="shield-check">
    Redaction only acts under **Enforcer**. An [Observer](/agents/data-protector#choose-a-role) assesses but never changes content, so an Observer Data Protector will not redact anything.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Enable Clipboard assessment" icon="clipboard-check">
    In the Data Protector's **Capabilities**, turn on **Clipboard assessment**. Until it is on, the Redaction switch stays disabled.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Turn on Redaction per category" icon="toggle-right">
    For each category you want removed from pasted text, flip its **Redaction** switch.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Roll out the client" icon="laptop">
    Redaction runs through Velatir for Desktop and the browser extension. It requires **Velatir for Desktop 0.20.0** or later and the **browser extension 1.11.0** or later. Velatir for Desktop updates itself automatically, so managed devices pick this up without action.
  </Step>
</Steps>

<Warning>
  The dashboard lets you switch Redaction on for a category even when the Data Protector is an Observer, but an Observer never changes content — nothing will be redacted until you promote it to **Enforcer** and enable **Clipboard assessment**.
</Warning>

## What the User Sees

When Redaction is active, pasting sensitive content into a supported AI tool shows the user a redacted version of what they pasted, with the matched content replaced by placeholders. The user reviews it and decides how to proceed — so sensitive content is kept out of the AI service, while ordinary pastes continue uninterrupted.

## Privacy

Redaction is designed to keep sensitive content on the device. The pasted text is analysed and redacted **locally**, and — unlike a standard assessment — is **not sent to Velatir's backend**. Only the result the user chooses to send continues to the AI tool. See [Data privacy](/security/data-privacy) for how Velatir handles content more broadly.

***

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Data Protector" icon="shield" href="/agents/data-protector">
    The agent Redaction belongs to, and the categories it protects.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Configuring agents" icon="sliders-horizontal" href="/agents/configuring-agents">
    Apply the Data Protector across workspaces.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Data privacy" icon="lock" href="/security/data-privacy">
    What Velatir stores, and how it scrubs sensitive content.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Velatir for Desktop" icon="laptop" href="/desktop-app/overview">
    The client that runs Redaction on the device.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>