Google Drive stores millions of sensitive documents; yet Drive cannot detect or redact credit card numbers stored inside PDFs, spreadsheets, or images. PCI data appears regularly during billing operations, finance workflows, customer support escalations, and engineering troubleshooting. Without redaction, organizations risk violating PCI DSS 3.5, 3.6, and 4.2.1 when full primary account numbers (PANs) are stored unprotected in shared folders.
Strac solves this by automatically identifying and masking PCI inside Drive files; removing the sensitive portion of card numbers without disrupting workflows.
Google Drive offers powerful collaboration features; but it does not provide PCI-specific detection or redaction. Drive cannot scan PDFs for credit card numbers; it cannot OCR images containing PANs; and it cannot remediate sensitive data inside shared or public folders. Files containing card numbers can remain accessible to teams, contractors, or external collaborators, creating serious PCI compliance exposure.
Google Drive lacks:
• PCI pattern recognition across documents and images;
• OCR scanning for screenshots and PDFs;
• Automatic masking or redaction;
• Bulk remediation at the folder or shared-drive level;
• Historical cleanup for stored PCI;
• PCI DSS–aligned controls.
Strac provides redaction for stored PCI by scanning Drive continuously and masking sensitive content instantly.
PCI data lives inside Drive in every file format because teams often upload or sync information directly from other systems. Detecting it requires analyzing structured and unstructured content across documents, scans, and images.
Common PCI exposures in Google Drive include:
• Invoices containing full card numbers;
• Billing exports from Stripe, Shopify, or CRM systems;
• Screenshots of customer payment details;
• PDFs containing cardholder information;
• Spreadsheets listing payment data;
• Customer disputes or fraud claims with visible PANs;
• Engineering logs containing test cards;
• Receipts or invoices shared with external partners.
Strac detects these patterns using:
• AI-powered PCI detection;
• OCR for images and PDFs;
• Context-aware scanning (“payment”, “cardholder”, “billing”);
• Luhn checksum validation for card numbers.
This ensures high accuracy and reliable redaction.
Redaction in Google Drive means masking only the sensitive portion of the card number while preserving the rest of the document. This keeps files readable; maintains business context; and neutralizes PCI risk.
Example:4242 4242 4242 4242
→ **** **** **** 4242
Redaction is superior to deletion because:
• Files remain intact;
• Workflows stay uninterrupted;
• Auditors receive clean, compliant documents;
• Sensitive PCI is removed instantly.
Strac redacts PCI across:
• Google Docs
• Google Sheets
• PDFs
• Images (PNG, JPG)
• CSV files
• Scanned invoices
• Shared Drives
• My Drive and Team Drives
Example 1 — PDF invoice with visible card number
Strac scans the text layer and masks the PCI instantly.
Example 2 — Screenshot of a checkout page uploaded
OCR identifies the PCI value and redacts the image.
Example 3 — Google Sheet containing exported payment data
Strac masks all full PANs while preserving the spreadsheet structure.
Example 4 — Shared Drive synced with billing ops
Redaction applies across every folder recursively.
Example 5 — External partner uploads a customer receipt
Strac redacts the PCI before internal users access the file.
Strac provides advanced PCI redaction across all Drive content types. Unlike tools that only scan text-based files, Strac identifies card numbers in images, PDFs, documents, spreadsheets, and compressed folders. Redaction helps organizations reduce PCI scope and protect sensitive customer data.
Strac delivers:
• Real-time and scheduled PCI redaction
• OCR for images and scanned PDFs
• Bulk folder remediation
• Misconfiguration detection
• PCI DSS–ready audit trails
• No-code deployment
• Cross-app redaction across Slack, Gmail, Salesforce, and more
No; Drive does not provide PCI detection or redaction.
Yes; Strac applies OCR across all Drive surfaces.
Yes; redaction prevents unprotected PCI storage.
Yes; all Drive surfaces are supported.
Yes; historical scans are fully supported.
Strac keeps Google Drive PCI-free by redacting card numbers instantly across documents, sheets, and images; maintaining compliance and reducing risk.
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