Redact sensitive documents in minutes, not days
AI scans every page for PII, customer names, financial figures, and sensitive terms — then suggests redactions for your team to review. Approve in bulk, share stage-gated versions with counterparties, and maintain a complete audit trail. What used to take an analyst 2–3 days now takes 2–3 hours.
Manual redaction breaks at scale
A sell-side M&A advisor shares a 200-page CIM with 8 bidders. Customer names, revenue-by-client breakdowns, employee compensation, and supplier terms all need redacting before Phase 1 bidders see the document.
The analyst doing this manually in Adobe Acrobat is working through page 140 at 11pm. They miss a customer name on page 73. They miss a compensation figure in an exhibit footnote. The deal team doesn't find out until a bidder mentions it — and by then, the information is out.
AI doesn't fatigue. It catches what people miss.
How AI Redaction works
AI-powered detection
The AI scans every page for PII, financial figures, customer names, contract terms, and sensitive identifiers. It understands document context — recognizing that a name in a revenue table is a customer worth redacting, not just text.
Permanent, irreversible removal
Approved redactions permanently strip sensitive content from shared versions. Recipients cannot recover redacted text through copy-paste, OCR, or PDF extraction. Your original unredacted files remain securely stored with full access controls.
Stage-gated disclosure
Share redacted versions with Phase 1 bidders and unredacted access with shortlisted parties — from the same data room. Granular permissions control who sees what at each deal stage, eliminating duplicate document sets.
Bulk review workflow
Scan entire folders in one pass. The AI flags every instance of sensitive information across hundreds of documents. Review and approve suggestions in a single workflow instead of opening each PDF individually.
Audit trail for every decision
Every redaction is logged — who approved it, when, and what was removed. Creates a defensible compliance record for regulatory inquiries, post-deal disputes, and SOC 2 Type II, GDPR, CCPA, and HIPAA audits.
The difference AI makes
Without AI redaction
- 2-3 days per document set for manual review
- Analyst fatigue leads to missed PII on later pages
- Separate redacted copies for each bidder group
- No audit trail of what was redacted or by whom
- One missed customer name can breach confidentiality
With Peony AI redaction
- 2-3 hours — AI flags, your team approves
- AI scans every page with equal attention
- One room, permission-based access per deal stage
- Full audit trail of every redaction decision
- Permanent removal — no way to recover from shared versions
Built for deal teams
Sell-side M&A
A 200-page CIM going to 8 bidders. AI redacts customer names, revenue by client, and employee compensation in minutes. Phase 1 bidders see redacted financials. Shortlisted bidders get full access. One room, two permission levels.
Regulatory and compliance filings
Before sharing clinical trial data, patent filings, or regulatory submissions externally, AI strips patient identifiers, proprietary formulas, and confidential terms. The audit trail proves exactly what was shared and when.
LP reporting and fund administration
Share portfolio company financials with LPs while redacting sensitive deal terms, co-investor identities, or carry structures that are not appropriate for all recipients. Stage-gated access by LP tier.
Enterprise redaction without enterprise pricing
Datasite charges $25,000-$100,000+ per deal for redaction capabilities. Firmex offers manual redaction only — no AI detection. Ideals and Digify do not offer redaction at all. Peony includes AI-powered redaction on the Business plan at $40/admin/month — with automatic PII detection, bulk review, stage-gated permissions, and a complete audit trail. For a boutique M&A advisory running 10 deals per year, that is over $250,000 in annual savings versus legacy VDR pricing.
"Every now and then, you come across a product that has a massive positive impact on your business. Peony is one such product."
Panos Moutafis
Founder & CEO, Zenus
Redaction is one layer of a complete security stack
NDA gating, granular permissions, dynamic watermarks, screenshot protection, 2FA, and detailed audit logs — all included on every plan.
Frequently asked questions
What is AI-powered redaction in a data room?
AI-powered redaction automatically scans every page in your data room for personally identifiable information (PII), financial figures, customer names, and sensitive terms — then highlights them for review. Your team approves or adjusts each suggestion, and Peony permanently removes the redacted content before sharing with counterparties. Unlike manual redaction in Adobe Acrobat or legacy VDRs, Peony's AI catches items that fatigued analysts miss, especially in large document sets like 200-page CIMs.
How does AI redaction help with M&A due diligence?
In sell-side M&A, advisors need to share confidential documents with multiple bidders at different deal stages. Peony's AI redaction lets you create stage-gated disclosure: Phase 1 bidders see redacted financials and customer names, while shortlisted bidders get unredacted access — all from the same data room using granular permissions. This eliminates the need to maintain separate document sets and reduces the risk of accidental disclosure that could kill a deal or trigger regulatory issues.
What types of sensitive information does the AI detect?
Peony's AI redaction detects PII (names, Social Security numbers, dates of birth, addresses, phone numbers, email addresses), financial figures (revenue, EBITDA, margins, compensation, deal values), customer and supplier names, contract terms, proprietary formulas, and jurisdiction-specific identifiers. The AI learns from your document context — it understands that 'Acme Corp' in a revenue table is a customer name worth redacting, not just a random string.
Is AI redaction permanent and irreversible?
Yes. When your team approves a redaction in Peony, the sensitive content is permanently removed from the shared version of the document. The redacted content cannot be recovered by recipients — not through copy-paste, OCR, or PDF extraction tools. The original unredacted file remains securely stored in your data room with full access controls, so your internal team can always reference the complete document.
How does Peony's redaction compare to Datasite or Firmex?
Datasite offers basic redaction tools but charges enterprise pricing ($25,000-$100,000+ per deal) and requires lengthy onboarding. Firmex provides manual redaction only — no AI detection. Peony includes AI-powered redaction on the Business plan ($40/admin/month) with automatic PII and financial figure detection, stage-gated disclosure through permissions, and a complete audit trail of every redaction decision. Peony delivers enterprise-grade redaction at a fraction of the cost.
Can I redact documents in bulk?
Yes. Peony's AI scans entire folders or your full data room in one pass, flagging every instance of sensitive information across hundreds of documents. Your team reviews the suggestions in a single workflow rather than opening each PDF individually. For a typical 200-page CIM with financial exhibits, AI redaction reduces review time from 2-3 days of manual work to 2-3 hours of approving AI suggestions.
Does redaction work with the audit trail?
Every redaction decision in Peony is logged in the audit trail — who approved it, when, and what was redacted. This creates a defensible record for regulatory compliance and post-deal disputes. Combined with Peony's page-level analytics, you can track exactly who viewed the redacted versions and confirm that sensitive information was never exposed to unauthorized parties. The audit trail is compliance-ready for SOC 2 Type II, GDPR, CCPA, and HIPAA requirements.
How much does AI redaction cost?
Peony's AI-powered redaction is included on the Business plan at $40/admin/month (1 TB storage). There are no per-page fees, no per-redaction charges, and no separate AI add-ons. Viewers and external recipients are always free. Compare this to Datasite, which charges $25,000-$100,000+ per deal with per-page upload fees on top. For a boutique M&A advisor running 10 deals per year, Peony saves over $250,000 annually versus enterprise VDR pricing.
Related features
Security
Enterprise-grade protection with NDA gating, granular permissions, watermarks, screenshot blocking, and audit logs.
AI Extraction
Ask questions across every document in your data room and get cited answers with exact page numbers.
Page Analytics
Track who viewed your documents, which pages they read, and how long they spent — confirm redacted versions were accessed correctly.