How to Redact PII and PHI for Legal Compliance

As privacy laws tighten and digital records become more common, the need for precise, legally sound redaction of personal and medical data has never been more urgent. Whether responding to a FOIA request or handling healthcare records under HIPAA, a single oversight in managing PII or PHI can result in serious penalties, reputational harm, and the exposure of individuals’ private data.

Balancing public access with personal privacy requires more than your best effort. It demands a clear understanding of the legal frameworks that govern sensitive data and a strategic approach to redaction. This guide outlines the key distinctions between PII and PHI, the laws that protect them, and how effective redaction ensures compliance while preserving accountability.

PII vs. PHI

Personally Identifiable Information (PII) refers to data that can be used to identify an individual. Common examples in legal documents include names, addresses, Social Security numbers, email addresses, and driver’s license numbers.

Protected Health Information (PHI) is a subset of PII. It refers specifically to health-related information, diagnoses, treatments, or payment details, linked to an individual and held by a covered entity or business associate under HIPAA.

Legal documents often contain both types of data. For instance, a medical malpractice case may list a patient’s name, date of birth, condition, treatment plan, and insurance details, all of which fall under privacy protection requirements.

The key distinction between PII and PHI lies in context. PII becomes PHI when it appears in a healthcare-related setting and is handled by a HIPAA-covered entity or its associate. For example, a phone number in a lease agreement is PII. The same number in a medical record is PHI.

The Legal Framework: HIPAA, FOIA, CCPA, and GDPR

Protecting PII in legal documents isn’t always easy, but it’s essential to protecting privacy. Many privacy laws regulate what needs to be protected and how to protect it. Here is a rundown of some of the most common privacy laws that demand proper PII protection:

Making a Company HIPAA Compliant

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) is the primary U.S. law protecting medical privacy. It sets standards for how PHI must be handled, especially by healthcare providers and their partners. Two main rules define its scope:

• Privacy Rule: Regulates how PHI can be used or shared. It also gives patients the rights to access and correct their records.
• Security Rule: Sets technical standards for safeguarding electronic PHI (ePHI), including encryption, access controls, and activity monitoring.

HIPAA violations can lead to serious penalties, with fines ranging from $100 to $50,000 per violation and annual caps up to $1.5 million. Even unintentional failures, like improper redaction, can trigger enforcement. Keeping a HIPAA compliance checklist helps ensure redaction practices meet required standards.

How to Comply With FOIA Litigation

The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) is a foundational transparency law that gives the public the right to access records from federal agencies. While it promotes openness, it also protects sensitive material through nine specific exemptions that include:

• Personal privacy
• National security
• Law enforcement techniques and procedures
• Confidential commercial or financial information
• Internal agency rules and practices
• Inter-agency or intra-agency communications
• Information exempt under other laws
• Geological and geophysical data
• Supervision of financial institutions

Names of individuals, investigators, or witnesses are often redacted under FOIA to protect their privacy and safety.

Many state-level public records laws mirror FOIA litigation and structure, though they vary in how exemptions are applied.

FOIA in Practice: State-by-State Differences

CCPA & GDPR: Empowering Consumers

The California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) gives residents control over how businesses collect, store, and sell their data. Key rights include:

• Knowing what data is collected
  
• Requesting deletion
  
• Opting out of data sales
  
• Receiving equal service regardless of opting out

The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) applies to any organization worldwide that handles data from EU citizens. It mandates transparency, consent, and data minimization, and gives individuals the right to access, correct, or delete their data. Fines can reach €20 million or 4% of global annual revenue, whichever is higher.

These laws represent a global shift: personal data is no longer just a corporate asset; it belongs to the individual.

Real-World Consequences of Non-Compliance

Violating data privacy laws can cost organizations millions and their reputations.

• Anthem Health Breach (2016): Hackers accessed the PHI of 79 million individuals. The resulting HIPAA investigation ended in a $16 million settlement and widespread public criticism.
  
• Prince William County FOIA Violation (2025): An attorney’s office failed to produce FOIA-requested emails on time, resulting in a $22,000 fine, proof that even small lapses at the local level can carry heavy consequences.
• Cash App Data Breach (2022): A disgruntled employee was able to access and leak the personal information of over 8 million users, including their names, portfolio values, and stock trading activity.

As HIPAA violations, FOIA requests, and data breaches all trend upward, the need for secure redaction continues to grow.

Why Redaction Is Essential

Redaction is the process of permanently removing or obscuring sensitive data before public or legal disclosure. When done correctly, redaction protects privacy, ensures legal compliance, and mitigates risk.

A robust redaction process:

• Prevents the release of protected information
  
• Meets the requirements of overlapping regulations
  
• Builds trust with stakeholders and the public

Key Practices for Redacting PII and PHI

To manage compliance across industries, organizations should embed redaction into their workflows using these best practices:

1. Automated Detection

Use AI-powered redaction tools like CaseGuard Studio to scan and identify sensitive data more efficiently and accurately than manual redaction.

2. Audit Trails

Keep detailed records of what was redacted, by whom, and why. This is essential for proving compliance during audits or litigation.

3. Role-Based Access

Limit who can view, edit, or approve redacted documents. Sensitive information should only be handled by authorized personnel.

4. Cross-Law Awareness

Understand how different laws intersect. For example, a public agency managing medical records must comply with both FOIA and HIPAA.

5. Ongoing Training

Ensure staff, especially legal and compliance teams, are regularly trained on data privacy laws and redaction protocols.

Creating a Culture of Compliance

Compliance isn’t a one-time task; it’s an ongoing commitment to safeguarding data, understanding legal frameworks, and maintaining public trust.

CaseGuard Studio plays a critical role in this process by streamlining redaction workflows with AI-powered tools. From frame-by-frame video redaction to automated text and audio scrubbing, the software ensures sensitive data is consistently identified and removed before release.

CaseGuard helps support compliance through:

• AI-driven redaction for video, audio, documents, and images
• Automated detection of PII and PHI in any file type
• Speech recognition for transcribing and redacting spoken content
• Audit trails that document redaction actions for legal verification
• Bulk processing to handle high volumes of files efficiently

Redaction is the final checkpoint before disclosure, the last safeguard between private information and public exposure. Without it, organizations face legal penalties, reputational harm, and erosion of public confidence.

Whether you’re in healthcare, law enforcement, legal services, or corporate compliance, CaseGuard helps integrate redaction into your operations so compliance isn’t just a requirement, it’s built into your workflow.

Redaction: The Bridge Between Transparency and Privacy

From HIPAA to FOIA, from CCPA to GDPR, today’s data privacy landscape is complex and evolving. The consequences for ignoring it are steep. Redaction is more than a regulatory requirement, it’s a core practice for protecting individuals, preserving trust, and upholding the law.

Whether you’re processing medical records, responding to public records requests, or managing consumer data, redaction ensures that privacy and accountability go hand in hand. Staying compliant isn’t just about avoiding penalties, it’s about doing the right thing, every time.