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better software since 1999
better software since 1999
Guides & Research
Capterra Glossary
Document sanitation is the process of removing any information from a document that is not to be seen by the documentʻs intended audience. This includes document metadata such as the names of document authors, a document's revision history, its date of creation, and collaboration notes that could pose a privacy or security risk. Businesses often remove metadata from a document by converting it to portable document format (PDF) before giving it to its intended audience.
Small and midsize organizations typically practice document sanitation when sending business documents to external stakeholders. This ensures that the privacy of company employees and their communications stay intact. By turning off track changes on a word processing application and converting their document into a PDF file, companies can ensure that the metadata their documents contain stays secure.