Remove metadata from all your files
Verilak removes author names, comments, tracked changes, GPS locations and other hidden data from PDF, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, photos and more. A second, independent check then confirms that the file is really clean.
What is metadata?
Metadata is data about a file. It is added automatically by the program you work in, by your phone or camera, and sometimes by the operating system. You do not see it when you open the document, but anyone who receives the file can read it with a few clicks.
For internal documents that is usually not a problem. As soon as a file leaves the organisation, for example in a Woo decision, a press release or a quote, metadata can reveal names, internal considerations or locations.
What Verilak removes
Word, Excel and PowerPoint
- Author, last modified by, company and template
- Comments and tracked changes
- Hidden slides and, on request, hidden sheets, rows and columns
- Ink, embedded documents and photos with their own metadata
- Macros and external links
- Document information and XMP metadata
- Earlier versions in incremental updates
- JavaScript, attachments and bookmarks
- Comments and filled in form values
- Hidden layers and unused fonts and images
Photos and images
- EXIF with GPS location, camera model and time
- XMP, IPTC and Photoshop data
- Embedded thumbnails, which sometimes show the original photo
- No loss of quality: the image data stays the same, byte for byte
- Orientation and colour profile are kept
Audio, video, email and archives
- Tags, location, GPS tracks and creation times in video
- Repackaged without re-encoding
- Headers and tracking pixels in email
- Attachments and forwarded messages, cleaned too
- Dates, owners and comments in ZIP, TAR and 7z
Why not just use the button in Word or Windows?
The built in functions, such as Inspect Document in Office or Remove Properties in Windows, work per file, per program and often not completely. Embedded photos, old versions in a PDF or hidden layers stay behind. And you get no proof that it worked.
| Aspect | By hand | Verilak |
|---|---|---|
| Many files at once | One by one | A whole folder in one go, with pause |
| All file types | Different in every program | One way of working for all types |
| Files inside files | Usually not | Recursive, including photos in documents |
| Check afterwards | None | Independent second check per file |
| Accountability | None | Report and audit log with hash chain |
Independent second check
Verilak rewrites every file from a list of what may stay, instead of searching for what must go. A second check, with a parser of its own, then reads the new file again. Only when that check finds nothing does the file get the label clean.
If that is not possible, for example with an unknown format or a PDF layer that cannot be removed safely, Verilak reports the file in red with the reason. So you know exactly which files need extra attention.
The original file always stays. Verilak makes a new, clean copy.
Personal data in the text itself?
Removing metadata is the first step. For names, citizen service numbers and addresses in the text, use the redaction function.