DeepRead PII Redaction

Redact 14 types of PII from PDFs, images, and text using context-aware AI that removes data irreversibly with black bars, supporting multi-language and audit...

Security Scan

The skill's runtime instructions and network calls line up with a remote PII-redaction service, but inconsistencies in the registry metadata (missing required env var and homepage), unknown source, and the fact that unredacted documents are uploaded to an external API warrant caution before installing or using it with sensitive data.

Purpose & Capability

The SKILL.md describes a remote PII redaction service (POST files to https://api.deepread.tech) which matches the skill name/description. However the registry metadata shown to you earlier claims no required env vars and no homepage, while the SKILL.md metadata requires DEEPREAD_API_KEY and provides a homepage (https://www.deepread.tech). This metadata mismatch is incoherent and should be resolved.

Instruction Scope

The instructions explicitly tell the agent to upload full documents (PDFs, images, text) containing PII to an external API and optionally deliver results via user-provided webhooks. Uploading raw PII to a third party is intrinsic to a cloud-redaction service, but it is a material security/privacy decision: the SKILL.md asserts irreversible local removal after processing, but there is no code or local implementation to verify that claim and no provenance for the skill. The instructions do not request unrelated local files or system credentials, which is good, but they do encourage storing and using an API key and configuring webhooks (which must be secured).

Install Mechanism

This is an instruction-only skill with no install spec and no code files, so nothing is written to disk or installed by the skill bundle itself (lowest install risk).

Credentials

The SKILL.md declares a required DEEPREAD_API_KEY (primaryEnv) which is appropriate for a hosted API; however the registry metadata shown earlier reported no required env vars. That mismatch is concerning. Otherwise, the only credential requested (the service API key) is proportional to the stated operation; no unrelated secrets or system credentials are requested.

Persistence & Privilege

The skill does not request always:true and is user-invocable only. It does not request system-level persistence or modify other skills. Autonomous invocation is allowed by default but is not combined with other high-risk privileges here.

Scan Findings in Context

[no_regex_findings] expected: The static regex scanner had no code to analyze (instruction-only SKILL.md). This is expected for an instruction-only skill, but absence of findings is not proof of safety.

What to consider before installing

This skill appears to be a front-end to a hosted redaction API — using it means sending unredacted documents (possibly highly sensitive) to https://api.deepread.tech. Before installing or using it: 1) resolve the metadata mismatch (registry shows no required env var/homepage but SKILL.md requires DEEPREAD_API_KEY and lists a homepage); 2) verify the vendor and homepage (read their privacy policy, retention/deletion guarantees, SOC/HIPAA compliance if applicable); 3) test with non-sensitive sample documents to confirm redaction behavior and that redactions are truly irreversible; 4) if you use webhooks, secure the endpoint and validate incoming requests (signed callbacks); 5) store API keys securely and rotate them if exposed; 6) if you need guaranteed on-prem/data-residency redaction, prefer a local tool or a vendor that provides an on-prem appliance or clear compliance artifacts. If you want, I can: (a) extract and list every API endpoint and header used by the SKILL.md, (b) draft questions to ask the vendor about data retention and deletion, or (c) suggest alternative local redaction tools.

DeepRead PII — Document Redaction API

Your agent processes documents. Some of those documents contain names, SSNs, medical records, credit card numbers. Before that data flows to another API, a database, a teammate, or an LLM — it needs to be clean.

Input:  "Invoice to: John Smith, 123 Oak St, SSN: 456-78-9012, Card: 4532-1234-5678-9012"
Output: "Invoice to: ██████████, ██████████, SSN: ███████████, Card: ███████████████████"

One API call. Document in, redacted copy + detection report back.

DeepRead PII detects 14 types of personally identifiable information using context-aware AI — not regex. It knows "Dr. Sarah Chen" on a hospital letterhead is the physician (skip), but "Sarah Chen" on a patient intake form is the patient (redact). No regex rules to write. No word lists to maintain. No false positive floods.

This skill instructs the agent to POST your file to https://api.deepread.tech, poll for results, and download the redacted copy. No system files are modified and no elevated permissions are requested.

What This Skill Does

• 14 PII types detected: Names, SSNs, credit cards, emails, phones, addresses, dates of birth, passport numbers, driver's licenses, bank accounts, IBANs, IPs, URLs, medical record numbers
• Black bar redaction: PII replaced with solid black bars — text physically removed from the PDF content stream, irreversible, not just a visual overlay
• Any document format: PDF (digital + scanned), PNG, JPEG, plain text
• Context-aware: AI distinguishes personal vs. institutional, patient vs. provider, form labels vs. actual values
• Audit trail: Every redaction logged with detection counts per type. See DeepRead's privacy policy for data handling details.
• Copy-paste proof: Redacted text cannot be recovered via copy-paste, text selection, or PDF parsing
• Free tier: 2,000 pages/month (no credit card required)
• Works with other DeepRead skills: Extract data with deepread-ocr, fill forms with deepread-form-fill, then redact the originals

Setup

1. Get Your API Key

Sign up and create an API key:

# Visit the dashboard
https://www.deepread.tech/dashboard

# Or use this direct link
https://www.deepread.tech/dashboard/?utm_source=clawhub

Save your API key:

export DEEPREAD_API_KEY="sk_live_your_key_here"

2. Configuration (Optional)

Add to your clawdbot.config.json5:

{
  skills: {
    entries: {
      "deepread-pii": {
        enabled: true
        // API key is read from DEEPREAD_API_KEY environment variable
        // Do NOT hardcode your API key here
      }
    }
  }
}

3. Redact Your First Document

Option A: With Webhook (Recommended)

curl -X POST https://api.deepread.tech/v1/pii/redact \
  -H "X-API-Key: $DEEPREAD_API_KEY" \
  -F "file=@document.pdf" \
  -F "webhook_url=https://your-app.com/webhooks/pii"

# Returns immediately:
{
  "id": "550e8400-e29b-41d4-a716-446655440000",
  "status": "queued"
}

# Your webhook receives results when processing completes

Option B: Poll for Results

curl -X POST https://api.deepread.tech/v1/pii/redact \
  -H "X-API-Key: $DEEPREAD_API_KEY" \
  -F "file=@patient_record.pdf"

# Returns immediately:
{
  "id": "550e8400-e29b-41d4-a716-446655440000",
  "status": "queued"
}

# Poll until completed:
curl https://api.deepread.tech/v1/pii/550e8400-e29b-41d4-a716-446655440000 \
  -H "X-API-Key: $DEEPREAD_API_KEY"

Usage Examples

Redact a PDF

Replaces all detected PII with solid black bars. Text is physically removed from the PDF content stream. Copy-paste cannot recover it.

curl -X POST https://api.deepread.tech/v1/pii/redact \
  -H "X-API-Key: $DEEPREAD_API_KEY" \
  -F "file=@contract.pdf"

Response when completed:

{
  "id": "550e8400-...",
  "status": "completed",
  "progress_percent": 100,
  "redacted_file_url": "https://...(signed URL)...",
  "report": {
    "id": "550e8400-...",
    "page_count": 5,
    "processing_time_ms": 3421,
    "pii_detected": {
      "NAME": {
        "count": 3,
        "pages": [1, 2],
        "confidence_avg": 0.92
      },
      "PHONE": {
        "count": 2,
        "pages": [1],
        "confidence_avg": 0.89
      },
      "EMAIL": {
        "count": 1,
        "pages": [2],
        "confidence_avg": 0.97
      }
    },
    "total_redactions": 6,
    "redaction_policy": "black_bar",
    "confidence_threshold_used": 0.85,
    "below_threshold_count": 0
  }
}

Redact an Image

Works on scanned documents, photos of IDs, screenshots — any PNG or JPEG.

curl -X POST https://api.deepread.tech/v1/pii/redact \
  -H "X-API-Key: $DEEPREAD_API_KEY" \
  -F "file=@drivers_license.png"

Vision AI detects PII in the image, locates exact positions, and draws black bars over the text.

Redact Plain Text

curl -X POST https://api.deepread.tech/v1/pii/redact \
  -H "X-API-Key: $DEEPREAD_API_KEY" \
  -F "file=@notes.txt"

Before: Patient John Smith, SSN 456-78-9012, called from [phone] After: Patient ██████████, SSN ███████████, called from ██████████████

Multi-Language Support

Supports documents in English, Chinese, Spanish, Hindi, and Arabic.

curl -X POST https://api.deepread.tech/v1/pii/redact \
  -H "X-API-Key: $DEEPREAD_API_KEY" \
  -F "file=@documento.pdf" \
  -F "language=es"

Supported languages: en (default), zh, es, hi, ar

When to Use This Skill

Use DeepRead PII For:

• Before sharing documents externally — redact before sending to vendors, partners, opposing counsel
• Before feeding documents to LLMs — strip PII before sending content to any AI model
• Compliance workflows — GDPR right to erasure, HIPAA de-identification, CCPA requests
• Training data preparation — create clean datasets from real documents
• Insurance claims — redact claimant PII before adjuster handoff
• Legal discovery — privilege review with PII protection
• Medical records — de-identify patient data for research or sharing
• Financial documents — mask account numbers, SSNs on statements
• HR documents — clean employee files before audits

Don't Use For:

• Real-time processing — async workflow, not instant (use webhooks)
• Structured data extraction — use deepread-ocr skill for that, then redact
• Documents with no text — blank images or decorative PDFs

How It Works

3-Layer Detection Pipeline

Document → AI Detection → Threshold Filter → Context Validation → Redact

Layer 1: AI Detection

• Text documents: LLM scans for all 14 PII types with confidence scoring
• Images/scans: Vision model detects PII with precise bounding box coordinates
• Returns type, exact value, and confidence score (0.0–1.0) for each detection

Layer 2: Confidence Threshold

• Default threshold: 0.85
• Detections below threshold are recorded but NOT redacted
• Reported separately as below_threshold_count for manual review

Layer 3: Context-Aware Validation

• Second AI pass with full document context
• Filters false positives that regex-based tools can't handle:
  • [e-mail] → institutional email, SKIP
  • [e-mail] → personal email, REDACT
  • "Dr. Sarah Chen" on letterhead → physician, SKIP
  • "Sarah Chen" on intake form → patient, REDACT
  • "Name:" (form label) → not PII, SKIP
  • "John Smith" (form value) → PII, REDACT
  • Invoice dates → not DOB, SKIP
  • "Date of Birth: 03/15/1990" → DOB, REDACT

What Gets Detected

PII Type	Examples
SSN	Social Security numbers, national IDs
CREDIT_CARD	Card numbers, transaction IDs tied to a person
EMAIL	Personal email addresses (not institutional)
PHONE	Phone numbers (all country formats)
NAME	Person names (all cultures/languages)
ADDRESS	Physical addresses, postal codes
IP_ADDRESS	IPv4 and IPv6 addresses
DATE_OF_BIRTH	Birth dates (only when labeled as DOB — not random dates)
PASSPORT_NUMBER	Passport numbers
DRIVER_LICENSE	Driver's licenses, registration numbers
BANK_ACCOUNT	Account numbers, routing numbers
IBAN	International Bank Account Numbers
URL	Personal URLs and web addresses
MEDICAL_RECORD	Medical record numbers, patient IDs, hospital IDs

PDF Redaction is Irreversible

• Digital PDFs: Text is physically removed from the PDF content stream using redaction annotations — not just covered
• Scanned PDFs: Pages are re-rendered as images with black bars, replacing the original
• All PDFs: Metadata stripped, content streams cleaned and deflated
• Copy-paste, text selection, and PDF parsing cannot recover redacted content

API Reference

POST /v1/pii/redact — Submit Document for Redaction

Auth: X-API-Key: YOUR_KEY Content-Type: multipart/form-data Rate Limit: 10 requests per 60 seconds

Parameter	Type	Required	Default	Description
file	File	Yes	—	PDF, PNG, JPEG, or TXT (max 50MB)
language	string	No	"en"	"en", "zh", "es", "hi", "ar"
webhook_url	string	No	—	HTTPS URL for completion notification

Response (200 OK):

{
  "id": "550e8400-e29b-41d4-a716-446655440000",
  "status": "queued"
}

Errors:

Status	Code	Meaning
400	INVALID_REQUEST	Bad request parameters
400	UNSUPPORTED_FORMAT	File type not supported
400	EMPTY_DOCUMENT	File is empty
400	DOCUMENT_CORRUPTED	File is corrupt or unreadable
400	PASSWORD_PROTECTED	Document is password-protected
401	UNAUTHORIZED	Invalid or missing API key
413	FILE_TOO_LARGE	Exceeds 50MB size limit
429	RATE_LIMITED	Rate limit exceeded
500	INTERNAL_ERROR	Server error (retry or contact support)

GET /v1/pii/{job_id} — Get Redaction Results

Auth: X-API-Key: YOUR_KEY Rate Limit: 60 requests per 60 seconds

Poll until status is completed or failed.

Response (completed):

{
  "id": "550e8400-...",
  "status": "completed",
  "progress_percent": 100,
  "redacted_file_url": "https://...(signed URL)...",
  "report": {
    "id": "550e8400-...",
    "page_count": 3,
    "processing_time_ms": 4200,
    "pii_detected": {
      "NAME": {
        "count": 4,
        "pages": [1, 2, 3],
        "confidence_avg": 0.93,
        "confidence_min": 0.87,
        "below_threshold": 0,
        "allowed": 0
      },
      "SSN": {
        "count": 1,
        "pages": [1],
        "confidence_avg": 0.98,
        "confidence_min": 0.98,
        "below_threshold": 0,
        "allowed": 0
      }
    },
    "total_redactions": 5,
    "redaction_policy": "black_bar",
    "confidence_threshold_used": 0.85,
    "below_threshold_count": 0
  },
  "error": null
}

Response (failed):

{
  "id": "550e8400-...",
  "status": "failed",
  "progress_percent": 0,
  "redacted_file_url": null,
  "report": null,
  "error": {
    "code": "DOCUMENT_CORRUPTED",
    "message": "Unable to process the document"
  }
}

Statuses: queued → processing → completed or failed

Code Examples

Python

import requests
import time

API_KEY = "sk_live_YOUR_KEY"
BASE = "https://api.deepread.tech"

# Submit document for redaction
with open("patient_record.pdf", "rb") as f:
    resp = requests.post(
        f"{BASE}/v1/pii/redact",
        headers={"X-API-Key": API_KEY},
        files={"file": f},
    )
job_id = resp.json()["id"]

# Poll with backoff
delay = 3
while True:
    time.sleep(delay)
    result = requests.get(
        f"{BASE}/v1/pii/{job_id}",
        headers={"X-API-Key": API_KEY}
    ).json()

    if result["status"] == "completed":
        # Download redacted file
        redacted_url = result["redacted_file_url"]
        redacted_pdf = requests.get(redacted_url).content
        with open("patient_record_redacted.pdf", "wb") as f:
            f.write(redacted_pdf)

        # Review detection report
        report = result["report"]
        print(f"Redacted {report['total_redactions']} PII instances")
        for pii_type, summary in report["pii_detected"].items():
            print(f"  {pii_type}: {summary['count']} found on pages {summary['pages']}")
        break

    elif result["status"] == "failed":
        print(f"Failed: {result['error']['message']}")
        break

    delay = min(delay * 1.5, 15)

JavaScript / Node.js

import fs from "fs";

const API_KEY = "sk_live_YOUR_KEY";
const BASE = "https://api.deepread.tech";

// Submit document
const form = new FormData();
form.append("file", fs.createReadStream("contract.pdf"));

const { id: jobId } = await fetch(`${BASE}/v1/pii/redact`, {
  method: "POST",
  headers: { "X-API-Key": API_KEY },
  body: form,
}).then((r) => r.json());

// Poll with backoff
let delay = 3000;
let result;
do {
  await new Promise((r) => setTimeout(r, delay));
  result = await fetch(`${BASE}/v1/pii/${jobId}`, {
    headers: { "X-API-Key": API_KEY },
  }).then((r) => r.json());
  delay = Math.min(delay * 1.5, 15000);
} while (!["completed", "failed"].includes(result.status));

if (result.status === "completed") {
  console.log(`Redacted file: ${result.redacted_file_url}`);
  console.log(`Total redactions: ${result.report.total_redactions}`);
}

cURL

# Redact a PDF
curl -X POST https://api.deepread.tech/v1/pii/redact \
  -H "X-API-Key: $DEEPREAD_API_KEY" \
  -F "file=@document.pdf"

# Redact a scanned image
curl -X POST https://api.deepread.tech/v1/pii/redact \
  -H "X-API-Key: $DEEPREAD_API_KEY" \
  -F "file=@id_card.png"

# Redact with language hint
curl -X POST https://api.deepread.tech/v1/pii/redact \
  -H "X-API-Key: $DEEPREAD_API_KEY" \
  -F "file=@documento.pdf" \
  -F "language=es"

# Check status
curl https://api.deepread.tech/v1/pii/JOB_ID \
  -H "X-API-Key: $DEEPREAD_API_KEY"

Workflows: Combine with Other DeepRead Skills

Extract Then Redact

Use deepread-ocr to extract data, then redact the original before archiving:

# Step 1: Extract structured data (keeps the data you need)
curl -X POST https://api.deepread.tech/v1/process \
  -H "X-API-Key: $DEEPREAD_API_KEY" \
  -F "file=@claim.pdf" \
  -F 'schema={"type":"object","properties":{"claim_number":{"type":"string"},"amount":{"type":"number"}}}'

# Step 2: Redact PII from original (clean copy for filing)
curl -X POST https://api.deepread.tech/v1/pii/redact \
  -H "X-API-Key: $DEEPREAD_API_KEY" \
  -F "file=@claim.pdf"

Redact Before LLM Processing

Strip PII before sending document content to any AI model:

# 1. Redact the document
resp = requests.post(f"{BASE}/v1/pii/redact",
    headers={"X-API-Key": API_KEY},
    files={"file": open("report.pdf", "rb")})
job_id = resp.json()["id"]

# 2. Wait for completion, download redacted version
# 3. Now safe to send to any LLM for analysis

Fill Form Then Redact Copy

Use deepread-form-fill to complete a form, then redact a copy for records:

# Step 1: Fill the form
curl -X POST https://api.deepread.tech/v1/form-fill \
  -H "X-API-Key: $DEEPREAD_API_KEY" \
  -F "file=@w4_form.pdf" \
  -F 'form_fields={"full_name":"Jane Smith","ssn":"456-78-9012"}'

# Step 2: Redact the filled form for internal records
curl -X POST https://api.deepread.tech/v1/pii/redact \
  -H "X-API-Key: $DEEPREAD_API_KEY" \
  -F "file=@w4_filled.pdf"

Best Practices

1. Use Webhooks for Production

curl -X POST https://api.deepread.tech/v1/pii/redact \
  -H "X-API-Key: $DEEPREAD_API_KEY" \
  -F "file=@document.pdf" \
  -F "webhook_url=https://your-app.com/webhooks/pii"

Only use polling if you cannot expose a webhook endpoint.

2. Review the Detection Report

The report tells you exactly what was found and where:

report = result["report"]

# Check if anything was below confidence threshold
if report["below_threshold_count"] > 0:
    print(f"Warning: {report['below_threshold_count']} detections below threshold")
    print("Consider manual review of the original document")

# See breakdown by type
for pii_type, summary in report["pii_detected"].items():
    print(f"{pii_type}: {summary['count']} on pages {summary['pages']}")

3. Set Language for Non-English Documents

Always specify the language for better detection accuracy:

-F "language=zh"   # Chinese
-F "language=es"   # Spanish
-F "language=hi"   # Hindi
-F "language=ar"   # Arabic

4. Polling Strategy

Poll every 3-5 seconds with backoff:

delay = 3
while True:
    time.sleep(delay)
    result = check_status(job_id)
    if result["status"] in ("completed", "failed"):
        break
    delay = min(delay * 1.5, 15)  # cap at 15s

Rate Limits & Pricing

Free Tier (No Credit Card)

• 2,000 pages/month
• 10 requests/minute (redact endpoint)
• 60 requests/minute (status endpoint)
• Full feature access

Paid Plans

• PRO: 50,000 pages/month, 100 req/min @ $99/mo
• SCALE: Custom volume pricing

Upgrade: https://www.deepread.tech/dashboard/billing?utm_source=clawhub

Troubleshooting

Error: UNSUPPORTED_FORMAT

Solution: Only PDF, PNG, JPEG, and TXT are supported. Convert other formats first.

Error: EMPTY_DOCUMENT

Solution: File has no content. Check the file is not corrupted or zero-bytes.

Error: FILE_TOO_LARGE

Solution: Compress the file or split into smaller documents. Max 50MB.

No PII detected in report

Possible causes:

• Document genuinely contains no PII
• PII is in a language not specified (set language parameter)
• Image quality too low for detection (try higher resolution scan)

Redaction missed some PII

Possible causes:

• Value was below the 0.85 confidence threshold (check below_threshold_count)
• Unusual formatting or handwritten text
• Report the issue: https://github.com/deepread-tech/deep-read-service/issues

Security Notes

• This skill only calls https://api.deepread.tech — no other endpoints are contacted
• Documents are uploaded to DeepRead servers for processing and redacted copies are returned via signed URLs
• This skill does not modify any system files, install packages, or request elevated permissions
• Keep DEEPREAD_API_KEY secret — rotate if compromised
• If using webhooks, ensure your receiving endpoint uses HTTPS and is authenticated
• Test with non-sensitive documents first to verify behavior
• Review DeepRead's privacy policy for data retention and handling details

Related DeepRead Skills

DeepRead is three tools with one API key:

Skill	What it does	Install
deepread-ocr	Extract text + structured JSON from any document. 97%+ accuracy.	clawhub install uday390/deepread-ocr
deepread-form-fill	Fill any PDF form with AI vision — scanned forms, government PDFs	clawhub install uday390/deepread-form-fill
deepread-pii	Redact sensitive data. This skill.	You're here

Common pipeline: Extract data (OCR) → Fill target form (Form Fill) → Redact originals for filing (PII)

Support & Resources

• Dashboard: https://www.deepread.tech/dashboard
• Issues: https://github.com/deepread-tech/deep-read-service/issues
• Email: [e-mail]

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Ready to start? Get your free API key at https://www.deepread.tech/dashboard/?utm_source=clawhub