How to redact an audio recording
Call recordings and interviews are full of details said out loud: card numbers read to an agent, a home address, a date of birth for security checks. The audio redaction tool finds them in a transcript and covers them in the sound.
Steps
- Open the recording. MP3, M4A, WAV, FLAC, OGG and Opus files up to 2 hours work.
- Agree to transcription. The speech is written out with a time for every word, and each paragraph shows when it starts.
- Review the transcript. Click a highlighted word to keep or bleep it, and press a paragraph's time to hear it.
- Mark anything missed. Select words in the transcript, or drag across the timeline for a stretch with no clear words.
- Pick Beep or Silence under Style and download. "Download redacted transcript" saves the text with the same parts masked.
Tips for calls
- Card numbers are often read in groups with pauses. Listen to the section around each one and widen the mark on the timeline if a digit falls outside.
- Spelled-out names ("S, M, I, T, H") may not be joined into one word. Look for runs of single letters in the transcript.
- Listen to the first and last minute too: greetings and sign-offs often include full names.
File tags
Audio files can hold a title, artist, comments, cover art and recording location. None of these are written to the new file.