Face redaction
Face redaction (also searched as facial redaction) is covering a person’s head in a video so the released file cannot be used to identify them from that image. Video Blackout is face blurring software for business in the sense that it runs on a licensed Windows PC, not as a social-media filter. The cover is mosaic, blur, or a solid fill, burned into every exported frame.
Definition: auto-detect plus manual boxes
Two modes exist for the same region type. Auto-detect runs an on-device face detector (YuNet ONNX via OpenCV DNN) and proposes boxes. You keep a person clear (interview subject, officer, teacher) or mark them for redaction. Manual boxes are drawn when the detector misses a profile, a child at the edge of frame, a reflection, or a helmet. Tracking (CSRT) can follow either a detected box or a drawn box so a walk down a corridor is not hundreds of keyframes.
Auto-redact faces and auto-blur faces, in this product, mean that first pass — not an unattended export. A detector does not know your exemption list.
Video Blackout capabilities
| Identifier | Auto-detect | Manual |
|---|---|---|
| Faces | Yes — on-device detector | Yes — draw or adjust boxes; keep or redact per person |
| License plates | Yes — on-device detector | Yes — draw or track boxes |
| Other on-screen PII | No | Yes — static or tracked regions (badges, screens, paperwork) |
| Audio | No — no speech recognition | Yes — operator marks time ranges; mute or beep on export |
What the operator actually does
- Open a local file. Nothing is uploaded to videoredaction.io or to a vendor cloud.
- Run detection. Deselect faces that must remain visible.
- Draw extra boxes where detection failed. Track if the camera or the person moves.
- Export hard-coded H.264. Keep the original; circulate only the redacted copy.
When faces are not enough
A blurred face next to a readable plate, a student ID, or a spoken name is still an identity. Continue with license plate blur (auto-detect plus manual boxes), PII video redaction for badges and screens, and audio redaction for manual mute/beep ranges. Bodycam context: bodycam redaction software.
Software to blur faces in video that only offers a website upload is a different product category. Ours is documented as offline and as AI video redaction.
FAQ
- Do you auto-redact faces without a human review?
- Detection proposes boxes on the PC. You confirm who stays visible and who is covered. Export is a human-approved, burned-in file.
- Can I draw a face box if detection misses someone?
- Yes. Manual boxes are first-class: draw, resize, and track. Auto-detect is an accelerator, not the only path.
- Is this face blurring software for business or a consumer app?
- Business and government desktop. There is no mobile “app to blur faces in video” that uploads to us.