Properly protect content of a PDF

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Feelda
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Properly protect content of a PDF

Post by Feelda »

Hello,

What would be the best way to protect the content of a PDF document ?

My job is to create contract clauses, and I would like to protect my work in the best possible way.

I know that the ultimate protection does not exist (because of OCR), but I noticed the fact that when I password protect my PDF, even a free internet tool such as "https://www.ilovepdf.com/fr" will completely unlock the document in seconds. Which makes my efforts really useless.

All the best,
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TrackerSupp-Daniel
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Re: Properly protect content of a PDF

Post by TrackerSupp-Daniel »

Hello, Feelda

From a security perspective, PDF is not a difficult format for an application to "ignore" the security on. the best way to ensure that a document is properly handled is to use "signature security", as this not only protects the file from editing, but also encrypts the contents, meaning that most "unsavory" editing attempts will likely fail, and even if successful, will almost certainly corrupt the file. Meanwhile any valid editing attempts will be properly saved normally, while a copy of the original "signed" version of the file remains available for review at all times (unless the signer removes their signature).

To use signature security, simply navigate to the "protect" tab in the Editor, and click "sign document" you can then configure your signature and the security settings you wish to apply to the file as detailed here: https://www.pdf-xchange.com/knowle ... ertificate

Kind regards,
Dan McIntyre - Support Technician
Tracker Software Products (Canada) LTD

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Feelda
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Re: Properly protect content of a PDF

Post by Feelda »

Hello Daniel,

Thanks a lot. I've tried the feature, but it does not suit my needs : i can password protect it, sign it, whatever, just by going on a free website I can convert my protected pdf into a word, making its content perfectly stealable...

Best regards
Last edited by Feelda on Fri Nov 12, 2021 10:03 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Tracker Supp-Stefan
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Properly protect content of a PDF

Post by Tracker Supp-Stefan »

:)
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David.P
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Re: Properly protect content of a PDF

Post by David.P »

What I do in some of my work, not only with PDFs but also with certain editable Office documents: I add certain invisible "analog" (bitmap-based) and digital (font- and/or vector-based) watermarks at places where they are not easily found or removed.

Then I add a clearly visible copyright notice that also indicates the presence of these watermarks. Of course, the document's contents can still be stolen, but at least the person doing it gets to know once more that it's illegal and that they can be tracked via the invisible watermarks.

Another method known as Copyright Trap is described here:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fictitious_entry

Hth & Cheers
David.P
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Tracker Supp-Stefan
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Re: Properly protect content of a PDF

Post by Tracker Supp-Stefan »

Hello David.P,

Thanks for this!

@Feelda - there are other ways to protect a PDF file, but those would not be free.
There are third party services like e.g. FileOpen that would allow you to limit who can open a file, and how many times (we support opening files protected with FileOpen in the Editor), but if a recipient does have the right to open a specific file and they want to 'copy' information from it - there's little you can do. Even if the file itself does only allow viewing on screen, and no printing or copying of content is allowed - there are still ways I can think of to extract content from such a file but I won't list them here on purpose.

Kind regards,
Stefan
Feelda
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Re: Properly protect content of a PDF

Post by Feelda »

Thanks for your replies. Duly noted.

All the best
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Tracker Supp-Stefan
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Properly protect content of a PDF

Post by Tracker Supp-Stefan »

:)
Feelda
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Re: Properly protect content of a PDF

Post by Feelda »

So, I think I found a way, for those who might be interested.

I set up a watermark which is like "lkjqsdfmlkjsqdmlfkjqmsldkfjqsmlkfjqslkf", with enough lines to entirely cover the document. The watermark has a 0% opacity, so it is not visible.

Then I lock the document so that nobody can delete the watermark.

If someone puts the document in a word converter, the result will be unusable, displaying my horrible watermark.
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Re: Properly protect content of a PDF

Post by Tracker Supp-Stefan »

Hello Feelda,

Glad to hear you've figured out a way to add some protection to your files!

Kind regards,
Stefan
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