What to remove

A practical pass over a work sample before it leaves your hands.

Reading ~9 minLesson 3 of 5

DOI-native

You own your skills. You usually do not own the artefact. Redaction is how both stay true.

Remove or replace

Client and employer names, logos and distinctive branding
Named individuals, emails, phone numbers and internal usernames
Real revenue, pricing, margins and headcount — replace with indexed or rounded figures and say you did
Internal system names, URLs, ticket IDs and screenshots of internal tools
Anything under an NDA, full stop

Keep

The structure of your work: method, decisions, trade-offs
The shape of the result, stated as a relative change
Your own writing and your own analysis

A two-minute check before submitting

Search the file for the client name and any abbreviation of it.
Open document properties and clear author, company and comments.
Check chart labels, tab names and file names — these leak most often.
Re-read as a stranger: could you identify the organisation from what is left?
Write one line of provenance: what the work was, when, your role, and what you changed for sharing.

If you cannot redact it safely, do not share it. Recreate the method on invented data instead — a reviewer can assess that just as well.

Key takeaways

Redact identity and commercials; keep method and judgement
File names, tab names and document properties leak most
Recreating on invented data is always a valid option

Preview · Sample data — Demo course content authored by DOI for this prototype. Signed in, progress is saved to your DOI account; otherwise it stays on this device. Finishing lessons records learning; it does not prove competence — that comes from reviewed practical evidence and DOI assessment. DOI claims no accreditation for this course.