Virtual Redaction Service

Abstract

A redaction system including a system for receiving an electronic version of a first document; a system for generating an electronic version of a second document which is a redacted version of the first document, wherein the system for generating includes a computer having a redaction engine coupled to a source of redaction rules; and a system for transmitting the second document from the redaction system.

1 - 6 . (canceled) 
     
     
         7 . An apparatus comprising:
 at least one processor; and   at least one non-transitory memory including computer program code, the at least one memory and the computer program code configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to:
 convert a first document format of a first electronic document into a different second format, where the different second format comprises, for different regions of the first electronic document, text in the first electronic document being mapped; 
 associate identifiers to the mapped text of the first electronic document in the different second format; 
 based upon a request for the first electronic document by a user, determine an identity of the user and select text to be redacted, where the selecting of the text to be redacted is based upon the determined identity of the user, the associated identifiers and a redaction rule set, where the redaction rule set comprises redaction rules based, at least partially, upon the identity of the user and the associated identifiers; and 
 transmit a redacted electronic second document from the apparatus based upon the request from the user for the first document. 
   
     
     
         8 . The apparatus as in  claim 7  further comprising a billing system configured to bill a customer for converting information from the first document into the second document. 
     
     
         9 . The apparatus as in  claim 7  wherein the redaction rules comprise at least one rule for automatically including a second piece of information in the second document from the first document. 
     
     
         10 . The apparatus as in  claim 7  wherein at least one of the redaction rules is configured to exclude information by replacing the information with a redaction marker. 
     
     
         11 . The apparatus as in  claim 7  wherein at least one of the redaction rules is configured to exclude information by removing the information before creating the second document. 
     
     
         12 . The apparatus as in  claim 7  where the at least one memory and the computer program code are configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to transmit a redacted electronic second document in .a target document format different from the second format. 
     
     
         13 . A method comprising:
 converting a first document format of a first electronic document into a different second format, where the second different format comprises, for different regions of the first electronic document, text in the first electronic document being mapped;   associating identifiers to the mapped text of the first electronic document in the different second format;   based upon a request for the first electronic document by a user, determining an identity of the user and selecting text to be redacted, where the selecting of the text to be redacted is based upon the determined identity of the user, the associated identifiers and a redaction rule set, where the redaction rule set comprises redaction rules based, at least partially, upon the identity of the user and the associated identifiers; and   transmitting a redacted electronic second document from the apparatus based upon the request from the user for the first document.   
     
     
         14 . The method as in  claim 13  further comprising billing a customer for converting information from the first document into the second document. 
     
     
         15 . The method as in  claim 13  wherein the redaction rules comprise at least one rule for automatically including information in the second document from the first document. 
     
     
         16 . The method as in  claim 13  comprising replacing a first piece of information from the first document with a redaction indication in the second document. 
     
     
         17 . The method as in  claim 13  comprising removing a first piece of information before creating the second document. 
     
     
         18 . The method as in  claim 13  where the transmitting of the redacted electronic second document from the apparatus based upon the request from the user for the first document comprises transmitting the redacted electronic second document in a target document format different from the second format. 
     
     
         19 . An apparatus comprising:
 circuitry configured to receive a request for a first electronic document from a requester and identify the requester;   circuitry configured to convert a first document format of the first electronic document into a different second format, where the different second format comprises different information in the first electronic document, corresponding to different regions of the first electronic document, having been mapped with the different second format;   circuitry configured to associate different identifiers to the different mapped information of the first electronic document in the different second format;   circuitry configured to, based upon the request for the first electronic document by the requester, determine the different mapped information to be redacted, where the determining of the different mapped information to be redacted is based upon the determined identity of the requester, the associated identifiers and a redaction rule set, where the redaction rule set comprises redaction rules based, at least partially, upon the identity of the requester and the associated identifiers; and   circuitry configured to transmit a redacted electronic second document from the apparatus based upon the request from the requester for the first electronic document.   
     
     
         20 . The apparatus as claimed in  claim 19  where the circuitry configured to transmit the redacted electronic second document from the apparatus is configured to transmit the redacted electronic second document in a target document format different from the second format. 
     
     
         21 . A non-transitory program storage device readable by a machine, tangibly embodying a program of instructions executable by the machine for performing operations, the operations comprising:
 identifying a requester, where the requester has requested a first electronic document;   converting a first document format of the first electronic document into a different second format, where the different second format comprises information in the first electronic document having been mapped with the different second format;   associating identifiers to the mapped information of the first electronic document in the different second format;   based at least partially upon the request for the first electronic document by the requester, determining the different mapped information to be redacted, where the determining of the different mapped information to be redacted is based upon the determined identity of the requester, the associated identifiers and a redaction rule set, where the redaction rule set comprises redaction rules based, at least partially, upon the identity of the requester and the associated identifiers; and   causing transmitting of a redacted electronic second document to the requester based upon the request from the requester for the first electronic document.