RTG may ask you for a copy of your RTG Conflicts database in order to resolve a problem. Here we describe software that can copy your database and remove all personally identifiable information. You can send this copy to RTG without revealing any sensitive information about your clients or matters.

The software to anonymize your RTG Conflicts data is provided as a free update to RTG Conflicts.

The software performs the following operations:

1. Anonymize parties: Changes the Party Name and Party Abbreviation to the word "Party" followed by a number (the Party ID). Removes any Notes.
   
   
2. Anonymize matters: Changes the Matter Name to the word "Matter" followed by a number (the Matter ID). Removes any Notes.
   
   
3. Anonymize relationships: Removes the Description.
   
   
4. Anonymize projects: Changes the Project Name to the word "Project" followed by a number (the Project ID). Removes any Notes.
   
   
5. Anonymize searches: Changes the Description to the word "Search" followed by a number (the Search ID).
   
   
6. Compacts the database to minimize its size.
   
   
7. Creates a "zip archive" of the database to further reduce its size.

The result is a file of anonymized data, anonconf.zip, that you can send to RTG.

Keep in mind that your original database is unchanged. These changes are made to a copy of your database.

The program offered here is only designed to work with RTG Conflicts Version 1.07 and above. If you have a lower-numbered version, you must upgrade to V1.07. See Upgrading RTG Conflicts.

The anonymization software is installed as an update.

1. To start RTG Conflicts, right-click the icon and choose Run as administrator.
   
   
2. Choose File > Update. Click Yes to start RTG Update.
   
   
3. Click the Check The Internet For Updates button. When the list of updates appears, click the Special button.
   
   
4. When the Special Updates window appears, click Anonymize RTG Conflicts data, then click Install.
   
   
5. The software will be downloaded from the RTG Web site and installed on your computer. Click OK when a message says the update has been installed.
   
   
6. Click Close to close the Special Updates window, then click Close again to exit from RTG Update.

Start RTG Conflicts and choose File > Tools. You will see the Tools window. Look for the line that says Anonymize RTG Conflicts Data and double-click that line to start the anonymization software.

You will see the Anonymize RTG Conflicts Data window. Click the Begin button. Click Yes to proceed. After a pause while the data is processed, a message says the processing is done. Click OK.

Note that the window shows the Current Data Location and the Anonymized Database Name. The Data Location is where all RTG Conflicts data files are stored. You will now have two new files there, anonconf.mdb and anonconf.zip.

The file anonconf.mdb is your data with personally identifiable information removed. The anonconf.zip file contains the same anonymized data, but it has been compressed to make it smaller. The zip file is the one you should send to RTG.

Make a note of the Data Location, then click Cancel to close the window.

On a non-networked installation of RTG Conflicts, the standard Data Location is:

C:\ProgramData\RTG\RTG Conflicts

This is a hidden folder. Instructions for making it visible are here.

If RTG has asked to see your RTG Conflicts data, send the file anonconf.zip as an email attachment. Do not send anonconf.mdb.

There are two ways you can view the anonymized data.

• Microsoft Access
  If you have Microsoft Access, you can open the file anonconf.mdb to view the database tables directly. You will find parties in the ConName table, matters in the ConMat table, relationships in the ConLinks table, projects in the ConProject table, and searches in the ConSearch table.
  
  
• RTG Conflicts
  To view the anonymized data in RTG Conflicts, you will have to rename your original database file and the anonymized database file.
  
  Exit RTG Conflicts. Rename rtgconf.mdb to rtgconf.sav, and rename anonconf.mdb to rtgconf.mdb. Start RTG Conflicts and you will see the anonymized data. Note that you cannot do a search that looks for name matches because the names have been removed.
  
  When you are done examining the anonymized data, exit RTG Conflicts. You can either rename rtgconf.mdb back to its original name, anonconf.mdb, or delete the file. Then rename the full database file from rtgconf.sav to rtgconf.mdb.

Questions about this procedure should be sent to RTG.