Re: Word Document Confidentiality

[Max Wyss <prodok -at- prodok -dot- ch>]

Emily,

just from a hard-core PDF evangelist <g>: Just continue as is and let them
run into more embarassment. That should cure them <nasty grin>.

One thing you might do is save the document under a different name, and
even maybe in a format which does not support the revision history (such as
RTF or a very old Word version), and then change it back to the current
version.

Another thing to keep in mind with Word documents: they have some
reputation of being ideal carriers for all kind of viruses, particularly if
they contain macros.

So, PDF is the far superior distribution format (you know that, I know
that, we all know that ... now we just have to convince the suits ...).

Hope, this can help.


Max Wyss
PRODOK Engineering
Low Paper workflows, Smart documents, PDF forms
CH-8906 Bonstetten, Switzerland

Phone:  +41 1 700 29 21
Fax:  +41 1 700 20 37
e-mail:  mailto:prodok -at- prodok -dot- ch
http://www.prodok.ch



[ Building Bridges for Information ]


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Where I work, we prepare documents in MS Word 2000. Recently, we sent a
document on CD-ROM to a client. (Conversation with boss; "Are you SURE you
don't want this as PDF?" Boss; "I'd rather send it in Word.") So, in
read-only format, with all the Track Changes functions turned off, off this
document went.

When our client got it, they opened it--and saw the change history, what it
had said before we customised it for them, queries to developers, et cetera.
Horrors, recriminations, etc. I tried to turn on the Track Changes again for
the original document, but this revealed nothing.

My question is: How can I save a Word document so that the Track Changes
history cannot be turned on again? And are there any other hints for
maintaining Word document confidentiality? I know, putting it in a PDF is
the best read-only option, but I work with many people who have a strong
preference for Word documents.