Saving Time, Ensuring Security: HELIOS by Utility™’s Editing Tools and AI-Based Redaction

Prosecutors face the same staffing and budget challenges as law enforcement, yet they’re expected to process an ever-growing mountain of digital evidence at an unprecedented rate. How is your agency managing this overwhelming influx of data? More importantly, are you confident that your evidence is secure and meets stringent court standards?

HELIOS by Utility™ is designed to meet these critical needs, offering powerful tools that streamline the preparation and handling of digital evidence. In this blog, we explore how the editing tools and AI-driven redaction capabilities in HELIOS are making evidence management more efficient and secure than ever before.

The Need for Efficiency and Security

Prosecutors handle vast amounts of digital evidence daily. Traditional methods of manually reviewing and redacting this evidence are time-consuming and prone to errors. HELIOS by Utility™ addresses these challenges by offering a unified platform that integrates advanced AI tools to expedite the process without compromising security.

Robust Editing Tools: Saving Time

HELIOS by Utility™ includes a suite of editing features that can significantly cut down the time required to prepare evidence for court. Susan Smith, Product Manager at Utility, Inc., explains, “The editing process in HELIOS is centered around efficiency when preparing case evidence for court. A combination of AI-driven redaction tools and editing components are part of the platform, enabling digital evidence preparation to be completed within one system.”

With these editing features, users can prepare evidence through various tools for videos, audio files, images, and documents.

Key features include:

• Face Finder: Auto-detects faces to simplify redaction.
• Object Detection: Automatically detects license plates, driver’s licenses, and guns in videos.
• Blur Options: Includes face blur, crowd blur, and blur all to protect identities.
• Audio Redaction: Options like mute, beep, and incognito voice alteration accelerate audio redaction.
• Duration Adjustment: Enables clipping the duration of video and audio files.
• Title Screens and Watermarks: Adds titles and watermarks to files.
• Manual and Automatic Redaction: Tracks and redacts additionally identified objects in videos.

AI-Based Redaction: Ensuring Security

One of the standout features of HELIOS is its AI-based redaction capability, which enhances the security of sensitive information. “HELIOS’s redaction options offer the ability to highlight and redact sensitive information securely,” says Smith. “The platform ensures that once redacted, the information cannot be recovered or exposed outside of the HELIOS environment.”

HELIOS can redact various types of media, including video, audio, images, and documents. Its AI-based tools provide:

• Face and Object Detection: Effective detection and blurring for videos.
• Audio Redaction: Redacts sensitive audio information.
• Document and Image Redaction: Includes cropping, blocking, freestyle drawing, text addition, and blurring.

Enhancing Workflow and Security

The integration of AI in HELIOS significantly improves the efficiency of evidence review and redaction. According to Smith, “The AI-redaction functionality enables users to locate and request redaction without manually reviewing video files frame by frame or audio files second by second. This allows users to perform other tasks while the tool works, yielding greater output in significantly less time.”

HELIOS also ensures that redacted information cannot be recovered or exposed. “HELIOS uses secure measures to access information and requires permissions for users to view and edit files,” Smith explains. “Redacted files cannot be unredacted outside the platform, and original files remain intact with redactions becoming edited copies.”

Benefits of AI-Based Redaction

AI-based redaction tools bring substantial time savings compared to manual methods. Smith highlights this benefit: “Depending on the amount of redaction required, manual redaction can take days, especially for lengthy files. HELIOS allows authorized users to request redaction jobs and continue working on other tasks, providing significant efficiency gains.”

HELIOS’s AI tools also handle multilingual content effectively. “HELIOS includes transcription and translation capabilities,” says Smith. “It can transcribe using the detected language and translate into the chosen language, making evidence review more accessible and reducing time for court preparation.” This in- application transcription can occur in minutes based on the size of the file. Internal resources and/or external transcription service efforts can be reduced with the head start delivered through this HELIOS feature.

Robust Training & Support

Utility ensures that clients are proficient in using HELIOS through comprehensive training and support. “We provide in-person training during system implementation, covering all aspects of system use,” Smith explains. “The platform also includes a Help section with written and visual tutorials.”

HELIOS by Utility™ represents a significant advancement in digital evidence management. Its editing tools and AI-based redaction capabilities provide prosecutors with the efficiency and security necessary to handle the growing volume of digital evidence. By automating tedious tasks and ensuring the highest security standards, HELIOS helps legal professionals focus on what truly matters: delivering justice.