Converting paper application to fillible form

[paulb48509115]

I work for a program that aids low-income and first-generation high school students prepare for college. We have a rather lengthy paper application that I want to convert to a fillable form that the students can either download or fill out online.

The application is 12 pages long requires the student's signature twice, a parent's signature 8 times, both parents' signatures one time, and a school teacher's or counselor's signature one time.

The workflow for this form is that the student goes to our website and accesses the application, fills it out and signs it, then a parent signs their part, then the other parent sings in one place (if applicable, if not this can be skipped), then the teacher/counselor signs it and forwards it to the school's registrar who will attach the students transcripts, testing reports, and class schedule and send it on to us.

I would like for the counselor and registrar to not see certain sensitive information (family income, SSN, that sort of thing) but see the signed release of academic records and the student self-assessment. and I would like for the teacher/counselor/registrar to not have a copy of the packet on their computer at the end of the process.

Can Acrobat do all of that?

[try67]

No, especially not the last part. In fact, I don't think it's technically possible to do it at all. What's to prevent someone from taking a screenshot of a document with the sensitive information and keep a copy of it? If you don't want someone to have sensitive information don't send it to them in the first place. Once you send it to them, even if it's hidden, they can almost always access it (unless it's very well encrypted).

I recommend you look for a different way of doing it, possibly with a web-based form (there's no such thing as a PDF file that is filled out online, by the way, it's always downloaded first to the local computer), and a secure database.

This is not a trivial matter, you could be held legally responsible if the information leaks!