SignPDF
SignPDF
Remove Protected Health Information from medical PDFs to meet HIPAA de-identification standards. No cloud uploads. Files never leave your device.
Start Redacting — FreePHI never transmitted · Works on any device · Free plan available
HIPAA's Privacy Rule requires that Protected Health Information (PHI) be de-identified before sharing with researchers, analysts, or any party not covered by a Business Associate Agreement. The Safe Harbor method (45 CFR §164.514(b)) specifies 18 categories of identifiers that must be removed or redacted.
Failing to properly de-identify PHI before sharing — even internally — can result in HIPAA violations ranging from $100 to $50,000 per incident, with a maximum annual penalty of $1.9 million for repeat violations.
Go to SignPDF and open your document. Because processing happens entirely in your browser, PHI is never transmitted over the network — a key HIPAA consideration.
Click the Redact tool and open the AI Redaction panel. Select which PHI patterns to scan for: SSNs, emails, phone numbers, and dates are detected automatically from the PDF text layer.
Patient names, MRNs, and addresses often require manual redaction using the brush tool, as they don't follow predictable patterns. Brush over each instance carefully — the black overlay is permanent and removes the underlying text.
Review the document page-by-page against the HIPAA Safe Harbor checklist. For scanned PDFs, visually verify each page — the AI cannot read image-only content.
Download your redacted PDF. The exported file contains no recoverable PHI in its text layer. Store or share the de-identified version as needed for research, billing review, or audit.
Most online redaction tools — Smallpdf, Adobe online, ILovePDF — upload your file to their servers. For documents containing PHI, this creates a potential HIPAA exposure: you're transmitting health information to a third party without necessarily having a signed Business Associate Agreement in place.
SignPDF processes everything in your browser. Your PDF, including all PHI it contains, is never transmitted to our servers. This architectural approach eliminates the server-transmission risk entirely.
For organizations that need a formal BAA and audit logging, the Pro plan is recommended. Contact us for enterprise arrangements.
Browser-based HIPAA redaction. Medical data never transmitted. Free to start.
Open SignPDF — Free →No account required · PHI stays on your device