Get this — In 2022, there were 120 government data breaches and more than 130+ breaches in 2023. Moreover, 201,184,801 records were affected by violations. This is why Redacted videos have become a significant need.
Moreover, to keep up with the times, governmental agencies are moving towards digitizing their processes and records.
Their files are riddled with sensitive information, meaning they must be concealed from the public.
For instance, they need to safeguard citizen records, transactional data, medical records, state records, and more.
Therefore, governmental agencies need practical approaches to address privacy challenges. So, it is pretty apparent why redacted videos have become so prevalent in today's day and age.
Read on to learn more! However, if you are stressed for time, jump to our free trial and get a hands-on experience.
Why are Redacted Videos a necessity for Government Agencies?
Government establishments are an attractive target for state-sponsored and regular cybercrime entities.
BlackBerry-Global Threat Intelligence Report 2023 reported a successful interception of 55,000 attacks on public and government sectors, showcasing the significance of the threat and the need for redacted videos.
You see, government organizations ought to build trust between them and the people. The public should feel confident that their data is in secure hands.
Hence, they should use document, image, audio, and video redaction tools to keep the wanted and censor any additional info.
These attacks have multiple objectives, and they can have severe consequences.
What Are the Risks of Unprotected Data in Videos?
Video files have many elements, including financial, personal, and healthcare-related data. Moreover, videos can also contain private conversations that can have confidential details.
Or there can be objects or documents in the background from which useful information can be extracted and used for malicious activities.
Further, the lack of secure video-sharing platforms has also added to the existing risk.
Unredacted elements in video and audio files can face the following dangers.
Cybersecurity Vulnerabilities
Government agencies keep vast amounts of nonpublic information, including PII, financial, and healthcare data, making them an attractive target for state enemies and cyber criminals.
They are constantly updating their attack methods to penetrate defense shields and get access to sensitive data.
However, with video redaction software, government agencies can redact sensitive data from their video assets to mitigate privacy risks.
State-Backed Cyber Espionage
Many state-sponsored cyber groups want to get their hands on government data, including names of government employees, financial records, and other state plans.
Using the stolen data, they aim to create propaganda and economic or political instability. But with targeted redaction, governments can make their restricted data inaccessible to breachers.
Insider Threats
The risk of insider threats is where individuals or employees within the establishment intentionally or unintentionally compromise privacy.
They can gain unauthorized access and mishandle data, leading to data breaches.
With redaction tools, government departments can do PII redaction and remove faces, names, credentials, and other elements that can narrow down to one's identity.
Privacy Concerns
New privacy and technical concerns surfaced as state-run organizations induce IOT and AI features in their frameworks to gather and secure information.
This requires a vigorous and reliable data protection strategy that can work with audio and video redaction software.
Compliance Challenges
The US government has imposed firm data privacy and security regulations regarding handling data and ensuring privacy.
Failure to comply can have legal consequences, but it also poses a tremendous risk to national data security.
Frauds and Identity Theft
The possibility of fraud and identity theft is one of the most significant risks from video information. For instance, PII, PHI, NPI, and PCI can be extracted from files and used for fraud.
Hence, every government organization should have PII redaction tools as part of their data protection strategy.
What are the Legal and Ethical Implications of Mishandling Sensitive Information?
Government contractors, agencies, and other branches are often subjected to sophisticated attack techniques like malware, ransomware, social engineering, and phishing attempts.
The grave consequences of mishandling sensitive information are as follows.
Loss of Sensitive Data
Government agencies host various data sets, including healthcare, addresses, names, transactions, individuals, plans, etc. Cybercriminals can use this confidential information for monetary benefits and to spy.
Reputational Damage
If governments fail to protect their people's and state's data and privacy, it will result in significant reputational damage on both local and international fronts.
Redacted videos can help government organizations reduce the risk of tarnished goodwill because such blows to one's well-earned reputation may be irreversible.
Example of Data Breach in US Federal Agencies
CNN reports that over 6 million records were stolen from US federal and state agencies. They blame a foreign ransomware attack group for drafting the attack.
Millions of copies were leaked, and attackers found vulnerabilities in the government's third-party software. Hence, there is also a great need for secure and reliable redaction tools.
In addition, US officials confirmed another attack on OPM (US Office of Personnel Management). The agency hosts crucial data consisting of retirement, human resources, and other information for several federal agencies.
What Are the Challenges in Redacting Videos for Government Agencies?
Since government agencies have large-scale operations and work with tremendous amounts of data, they face numerous challenges when redacting videos.
Here are some of the critical challenges they face.
Balancing Privacy and Transparency
Government organizations must maintain an equilibrium between privacy and transparency, as both hold considerable importance.
For starters, they require seamless and secure data-sharing solutions with official stakeholders.
Federal and state agencies need a concrete redacted video solution that ensures secure data sharing while keeping things transparent.
Ensuring Accuracy in Redaction
As much as redaction is essential for government organizations, accuracy in redaction is also significant.
Whether dealing with manual or bulk redaction, the government cannot compromise accuracy, as a tiny mistake can lead to significant data and privacy risks.
As a result, federal and state agencies should opt for reliable video redaction software that also holds a good reputation in the market.
Besides auto redaction, it should also give the option to mask left behind confidential information manually.
Handling Large Volumes of Video Data
Government records consist of large volumes of data, so collecting, handling, and sharing them can be complex. They need precision, security, and organized storage for their files.
Manually removing sensitive data is a painstaking activity that can take hours to days, so secure audio, image, document, and video redaction software to share files.
How Redacted Videos Help With Regulations and Compliance?
Redacted videos are vital in aligning government agencies with industry-standard regulations and compliance.
Moreover, they can share crucial data while adhering to privacy guidelines and legal submissions.
Following are the essential regulations that US institutions must follow:
FERPA
FERPA, or The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974, aims to protect the data safety and privacy of students' information.
Public schooling sector entities or educational establishments that use US government funds must comply with FERPA when safeguarding data.
Redacted videos can ensure that you keep the student data safe, maintain transparency, and provide secure sharing.
NIST Cybersecurity Framework
The NIST 800-53 and 800-171 compliance is mandatory for all federal agencies to secure their information security systems.
The framework consists of 5 crucial elements:
- Identify (identify the list of equipment that can be a potential target)
- Protect (do log control, encrypt data, conduct regular backup)
- Detect (monitor for unauthorized connections and accesses)
- Respond (have a crisis management plan in the event of a data breach)
- Recover (use backup, repair, and restore affected parts of the network and equipment)
FOIA
Freedom of Information Act, or FOIA, allows the public to access data from federal agencies. The purpose is to keep citizens aware of the government's data usage under nine conditions that protect national security, law enforcement, and personal privacy.
Federal government agencies must comply with FOIA rules, secure agency data, and ensure robust privacy measures.
Government agencies can use FOIA redaction guidelines to redact information if it is excused from disclosure under federal law.
HIPAA Compliance
The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, or HIPAA compliance, is a federal law that requires all private and government entities dealing with people's medical data to comply with HIPAA standards to protect sensitive patient health information.
Medical information is also a high-value target for data breaches. As a result, they need targeted redaction strategies to secure patient and medical data.
VIDIZMO Redactor — One of the Best Solutions for Redacted Videos
There are numerous challenges and risks associated with data security and privacy for government agencies.
Understanding the gap in the Market, VIDIZMO Redactor is the ideal tool for government agencies. Its features fulfill federal and state governments' security, privacy, and data-sharing needs.
It allows Government agencies to:
- Maintain national security by protecting classified information in videos and other digital media files
- Use AI-powered redaction to save time by auto-detecting custom objects, PII information, guns, number plates, people, etc.
- Securely save all video assets and layer them with military-grade encryption.
- Use role-based access control and multifactor authentication to ensure files can only be viewed by those authorized to do so
And that is just the tip of the iceberg: VIDIZMO Redactor comes with many features and bells and whistles.
For more information, please leave a comment below or reach out to us! Also, to explore our software, please sign up for our 7-day free trial (no credit card required).
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
What does redacted mean in law?
Redacted in law means to remove confidential and private data from documents before presenting them to the courts or law offices.
What is the best PDF redaction software?
When meeting compliance, accuracy, and industry standards for pdf redaction, you can trust the pdf redaction feature on VIDIZMO Redactor,
What is the difference between redacted and expunged?
Redaction means to hide the information and keep it known to related authorities. In contrast, data expungement means obliterating the data from the records so that no one knows it.
What are the three types of data security?
The three common types of data security include hardware, legal, and software security.
What are the three main rules of HIPAA?
The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act includes the following.
- The privacy rules.
- The security rules.
- The breach notification rule.
