Redaction & Ethics Policy¶

This policy is maintained by Kevin Bass, Ph.D. For the author's background and credentials, see the Press Kit.

Last updated: 2025-11-27

This page explains how this site handles publication, redactions, privacy, and corrections. It is intended to maximize transparency while minimizing avoidable harm.

1) Purpose¶

• Publish documents and summaries so readers can evaluate primary sources themselves.
• Separate factual description from interpretation and clearly label each.
• Provide a predictable process for privacy, redactions, and corrections.

2) What is published¶

• Primary documents (e.g., letters, emails, filings) in PDF where permitted.
• Summaries describing what a document is, when it was created, and why it is relevant.
• Links to external sources (e.g., DocumentCloud) where materials are hosted for durability.

3) Legal basis for redactions¶

Redactions are guided by applicable statutes and privacy doctrines, including:

• Texas Public Information Act (TPIA)
• §552.137: Email addresses of members of the public are confidential
• §552.136: Financial account numbers and access device information
• §552.130: Motor vehicle records and license information
• §552.147: Social Security numbers
• §552.114: Student education records (FERPA cross‑reference)
• Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA)
• 34 CFR 99.3, 99.30–99.31: Student education records and personally identifiable information
• Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA)
• 45 CFR 164.514(b)(2): Protected health information identifiers
• Texas common‑law privacy
• Dates of birth of living persons; personal financial information; home addresses/phones

4) What I redact¶

Removed or masked when not essential to public understanding: - Statutory identifiers: SSN; driver's license/state ID; license plate/VIN; bank/access numbers - Education‑record PII of other students: names, student numbers, schedules, grades, discipline files - Protected health identifiers about other people - Strong personal privacy: dates of birth; home addresses; personal phone numbers; personal emails of private citizens (including my own personal phone and home address) - Third‑party trade secrets (if present in attachments) - Email metadata noise: DKIM/SPF/DMARC authentication headers, internal message routing, X-headers, and similar technical metadata that adds no evidentiary value - Attorney–client confidentiality disclaimers: Standard footer boilerplate (e.g., "This communication originates from an Attorney and may contain confidential information…") is retained for context but does not waive any privilege

5) What I keep¶

• Names/titles of public officials and their official work emails (e.g., @ttuhsc.edu, @ttu.edu) when part of agency records
• Case dates, docket numbers, request/response letters, final policy documents
• Official government email addresses (e.g., @ttuhsc.edu, @ttu.edu, @oag.texas.gov, @ed.gov)
• Public records and official communications; official case numbers and procedural information
• Email thread metadata (Message-ID, thread/conversation ID, timestamps) for chain-of-custody and authenticity purposes
• Attachment filenames and sizes (content redacted separately per above rules)
• My public email address (kbassphiladelphia@gmail.com) as it appears in official correspondence headers

6) Redaction method & tokens¶

Method. Black‑box redaction applied to PDFs and, where necessary, to page text/transcripts. Redactions in text are marked with standardized tokens.

Tokens.

7) Redaction process¶

High‑level steps: 1. Collect the original email/PDF to a private folder (not published) 2. Scan for sensitive data using automated patterns 3. Redact: replace sensitive text with tokens in HTML; draw black boxes on PDFs and flatten 4. Scrub metadata from PDFs (author/tool/timestamps) 5. Log: generate a redaction log for each exhibit (what was removed and why) 6. Publish only sanitized copies; originals remain private

7.1) Text documents (HTML/Markdown/Email)¶

• Pattern matching using regex against privacy categories
• Email domain filtering (allow official domains, redact personal)
• Token replacement with standardized markers
• SHA‑256 hashing for integrity verification

7.2) PDF documents¶

• Text extraction and pattern matching
• Burn‑in redaction with black rectangles; remove underlying text
• PDF flattening to prevent alteration
• Metadata stripping (author, creation dates, etc.)

7.3) Quality assurance¶

• Automated pre‑publication scans for missed sensitive data
• Manual review for context‑dependent redactions
• Redaction logs documenting every change; SHA‑256 integrity verification

8) Redaction logs¶

Each published document includes a JSON log at /redaction_logs/{doc-id}.json containing: - Original and redacted file hashes - List of all redactions performed - Legal basis citations - Review timestamps

9) Privacy & safety¶

• I avoid publishing direct contact info for private individuals where not essential.
• I do not publish medical info or other high‑sensitivity data beyond what is strictly necessary for context.

10) Corrections & updates¶

To request a correction, please use the Corrections form (preferred) or email kbassphiladelphia@gmail.com with the page URL, the exact text in question, and the proposed correction. Include documentation supporting the request (e.g., copy of the document). I aim to respond within 7 days. Substantiated factual errors will be corrected promptly and annotated on the page with a timestamp.

Versioning: Substantive edits will be noted as “Updated” with date. Prior text may be preserved in a changelog when appropriate.

11) Takedown requests¶

• I consider removals when disclosure causes disproportionate harm or contains sensitive personal information that is not essential for public understanding.
• Requests should identify the specific harm and the exact content to remove. I generally prefer targeted redaction over removal.

12) Authenticity of documents¶

• Unless stated otherwise, documents are reproduced as received. Metadata (dates, senders) are quoted from the document itself where available.
• If authenticity is disputed, I will annotate the page to reflect the dispute and publish additional context when available.

13) Conflicts of interest & funding¶

• The site is independently published. Where third‑party funding or legal assistance pertains to a given document or page, I will disclose it inline or on this page.

14) Contact¶

• Corrections & redactions: kbassphiladelphia@gmail.com
• General inquiries: kbassphiladelphia@gmail.com