Once a video is exported from Premiere, can layers be removed?

[PAYTON29607608uh5p]

We have been using Premiere to cut dates and personal identifiers out of videos, and then we export those edited videos out of Premiere as .avi files. We are looking into sharing these videos with another university, but due to HIPPA, we need to make sure that it is not possible to remove the boxes that have been placed over these identifiers to black them out. We have a hunch that once you export the video, you cannot go back in and change anything; but we need to make sure that there is absolutley NO way that this can happen. If someone could confirm this or pontely

[MyerPj]

They could import the AVI and do anything they like to it. But if you have covered a graphic with a solid black or such, they can't see what is underneath. If you share the project of course, then they could see/do anything.

[PAYTON29607608uh5p]

Does this mean that once the video is exported from the project, there is absolutely no way for someone to take that exported video and dissect it to remove layers?

[MyerPj]

Yes, there are no layers in an exported video. Take the export file and drop it back into Premiere, you'll see what it is. Why AVI, it's a bit outdated. I'd suggest h.264 / mp4.