Scanning for Sensitive Documents

Your computer likely contains sensitive documents scattered across various folders - tax forms, bank statements, scanned IDs, medical records, and more. Activate Security's Document Scanner automatically finds these files so you can protect them with encryption.

How the Document Scanner Works

The scanner uses advanced pattern recognition to identify potentially sensitive documents by analyzing:

• File names and extensions
• Document metadata
• Content patterns (for supported file types)
• Common storage locations

Running a Document Scan

Step 1: Start the Scan

1. Open Activate Security application
2. Navigate to "Secure Vault" or "Document Scanner"
3. Click "Scan for Sensitive Documents"
4. Choose scan locations (Quick Scan or Full Scan)
5. Click "Start Scan"

Step 2: Wait for Scan to Complete

The scan time depends on:

• Quick Scan - Scans common locations (Documents, Desktop, Downloads) - typically 2-5 minutes
• Full Scan - Scans entire hard drive - may take 15-30 minutes depending on file count

Step 3: Review Results

After scanning, you'll see a list of found documents organized by type and risk level.

Types of Documents Detected

Financial Documents

• Tax returns (1040, W-2, 1099 forms)
• Bank statements
• Investment account statements
• Credit card statements
• Pay stubs and salary information
• Invoices and receipts

Personal Identification

• Passport scans and photos
• Driver's license copies
• Social Security cards
• Birth certificates
• Visa and immigration documents

Medical Records

• Medical history documents
• Prescription information
• Insurance cards and forms
• Lab results and test reports
• Doctor's notes and diagnoses

Legal Documents

• Contracts and agreements
• Wills and trusts
• Property deeds
• Court documents
• Power of attorney forms

Understanding Scan Results

Each found document is marked with a risk level:

High Risk (Red)

Documents containing highly sensitive information:

• Full Social Security numbers
• Passport numbers
• Bank account numbers
• Credit card numbers

Recommendation: Move these to the vault immediately.

Medium Risk (Yellow)

Potentially sensitive documents:

• Tax forms
• Medical records
• Legal documents

Recommendation: Review and move important ones to the vault.

Low Risk (Green)

Documents that may contain some personal information:

• General receipts
• Utility bills
• Non-sensitive correspondence

Recommendation: Review and decide based on content.

What to Do After Scanning

For each document found, you can:

1. Move to Vault (Recommended)

• Encrypts the document with AES-256 encryption
• Removes it from its original, unsecured location
• Makes it accessible only through the vault
• Provides complete protection

2. Ignore

• Leaves the document in its current location
• Excludes it from future scans
• Use for false positives or already-protected files

3. Delete

• Permanently removes the document
• Use for outdated or unnecessary sensitive files
• Cannot be recovered after deletion

Scan Settings and Customization

Custom Scan Locations

Add specific folders to scan:

1. Click "Customize Scan"
2. Click "Add Folder"
3. Select folders to include
4. Save settings

File Type Filters

Choose which file types to scan:

• PDFs (most common for sensitive documents)
• Images (JPG, PNG for scanned IDs)
• Word Documents
• Excel Spreadsheets
• Text files

Best Practices

• Regular Scans - Run monthly to catch new files
• Start with Full Scan - Run a complete scan initially
• Quick Scans After - Use quick scans for monthly checks
• Review All High-Risk Items - Always protect red-flagged documents
• Clean Up Old Files - Delete outdated sensitive documents