EchoMark Inc., a Seattle startup focused on protecting private information, is launching a software-as-a-service offering that uses forensic watermarking to prevent the unauthorized disclosure of internal communications.

SecureView protects against information leaks caused by such hard-to-track elements as email attachments, downloads, image captures and untraceable emails, the company says. It allows for the trusted sharing and viewing of sensitive documents without permitting information to be copied and pasted, downloaded or forwarded.

The company said in the announcement Tuesday that it has solved the shortcomings of conventional information security technologies like digital rights management, data loss prevention and end-user monitoring. The company said those tools can impose restrictions that impede legitimate uses or generate false positives that flag innocent employees and damage morale. None is effective once information leaves the organization.

EchoMark uses AI-enhanced steganography to securely embed an invisible, individualized digital fingerprint within the content. Steganography is the practice of hiding secret data within an ordinary, nonsecret file or message to avoid detection. The secret can be as simple as an extra space or a punctuation mark in a different font.

That tiny distinction allows any document to be quickly identified if it’s shared through any other channel, including as a digital copy, a fragment, a photo of a computer screen or a printout, or even if it’s manually retyped. The company said its approach is the only one that guards against analog sharing techniques, such as taking photos or making photocopies of documents.

SecureView also addresses the risk of email attachments stored indefinitely on devices by automatically turning them into trackable links. Analytics monitor document access and usage, supporting forensic investigations and providing usage information to the publisher.

SecureView is available through the EchoMark.com website and can be deployed rapidly across an organization with customizable policies and integrations with Microsoft Corp.’s Exchange, Google LLC’s Gmail and other platforms.

Founded in 2022, EchoMark has raised $10 million in funding, according to Crunchbase.

Image: EchoMark