As CPAs, we often deal with confidential information, and hopefully our IT departments have implemented safeguards to protect against such information getting into the wrong hands. What they cannot protect against, however, is the accidental sharing of information that you thought was hidden.
Glitch leaves Obama info out in open
The news article linked above refers to a “glitch” that allowed a PDF with blacked-out text to be fully readable. A reader of the document simply selected the text, including the blacked-out text, copied it, and pasted it into another program. What is referred to as a “glitch” in the article was probably just an uninformed use of the highlighter tool in Acrobat.
As shown below, the highlighter tool can be used to black out text when the color is changed to black:
The problem is, the text can still be selected, copied, and pasted as if it were never obscured in the first place. Although reprinting the document to PDF leaves the text not-selectable, it will still be faintly visible:
If you need to share a document that contains confidential information:
- Determine if the document needs to be shared in the first place.
- Don’t rely on Acrobat’s (or any other program for that matter) built-in tools that appear to do the job.
- Try printing the document to paper, blacking out text with a marker, and scanning the document back in.
- If you are unsure, consult with a tech savvy supervisor or a member of the IT department to determine any potential vulnerability before sending to a third party.
Above all, keep in mind the potential damaging effects of sharing information that should not have been shared, especially by accident.
CPA Tech Tips 
#1 by Kara Haas on May 13, 2011 - 9:26 am
Great tip, Tim.
Thank you for sharing this. I especially love your closing remarks: “Above all, keep in mind the potential damaging effects of sharing information that should not have been shared, especially by accident.” — So often technology and the ability to provide information quickly, makes us lose sight of the big picture and long term effects.
#2 by premiosycertameneslapalma.org on July 2, 2013 - 10:29 pm
Good day very nice blog!! Guy .. Beautiful .. Superb ..
I’ll bookmark your site and take the feeds additionally? I’m glad to find numerous useful info right here
within the submit, we want develop more techniques
in this regard, thank you for sharing. . . . . .
#3 by Low Carb Cereal on August 2, 2013 - 5:56 pm
You can make use of flax meal, almond meal, soy
powder, and so forth.
#4 by Stephaine on August 2, 2013 - 7:21 pm
Proteins, vitamins, minerals and amino acids play a huge function in assisting you grow taller.
#5 by Britney on August 11, 2013 - 11:28 am
My family members every time say that I am killing my time here at net, however
I know I am getting experience all the time by reading such nice content.
#6 by urbulence training youtube on March 2, 2014 - 12:24 am
3) Weight Training…”We tend to use lighter weights and do more reps,” he says.
Depending on the application area, there are different types
of designs. These require resistance bands, but you can do these without resistance.
#7 by Papa Pear Saga Hack on August 17, 2014 - 9:04 am
PC games or computer games have increased in popularity nowadays,
not only with all the younger generation, but in addition with people at the same time.
There are numerous games accessible, starting from the intellectual to the mundane – the options are unlimited.
Roleplaying activities that are online are being
among the most popular activities everywhere in the world.
With this particular reputation, a great deal of people are discovering and
trying to find methods to feel the total sport as rapidly because they can; good reasons for using video game cheats
range from merely planning to have friends and
family look at you in awe, or gaining a lot of recreation currency that you can sell
later, or just merely to rid the game of the exciting factor for that different people.
#8 by Game Hack on September 24, 2014 - 2:30 pm
Truly when someone doesn’t be aware of then its up to other people that they will help, so here it occurs.
#9 by http://hostgatorcoupon.today on October 3, 2014 - 11:05 pm
I like the helpful info you provide in your articles.
I will bookmark your weblog and check again here regularly.
I’m quite sure I will learn many new stuff right here! Good luck for the next!
#10 by Newton on March 25, 2016 - 5:55 pm
Wow, this article is pleasant, my younger sister is
analyzing these kinds oof things, therefore I am going
to convey her.
#11 by nonlagma trade on March 27, 2017 - 9:34 pm
Appreciate it for helping out, fantastic information. “The laws of probability, so true in general, so fallacious in particular.” by Edward Gibbon.