What gets redacted in discovery?

Asked by: Mollie Homenick  |  Last update: June 30, 2025
Score: 4.7/5 (48 votes)

FRCP Rule 5.2 discusses redacting court orders and filings to protect personal data, including individuals' social security numbers, taxpayer identification numbers, birth dates, the name of a minor individual, or financial account numbers—restricting to the last four digits of the SSN, TIN or financial account number, ...

What needs to be redacted in discovery?

Social Security Numbers, Taxpayer identification numbers, names of minors, dates of birth, financial account numbers, home addresses, passport numbers, and driver license numbers.

What medical information should be redacted?

Here are some of the most important types of information to remove:
  • Personal Identifiers: Names, addresses, phone numbers, email addresses, Social Security numbers.
  • Medical Identifiers: Medical record numbers, health plan beneficiary numbers, and account numbers.

What gets redacted?

Redaction is the process of hiding, concealing, or removing information from sensitive legal, corporate, or government documents. Most redactions involve blacking out or masking the sensitive information, such as names, legal case information, or intellectual property.

What information needs redacting?

Typically, redaction is needed when a document containing sensitive information must be transmitted or published. It's critical to distribute the safe content of the document, without leaking confidential information.

Why "Discovery" Is Redacted

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What confidential information should be redacted?

Redaction could protect sensitive data such as personal identifiable information (PII), protected health information (PHI), classified industry secrets, sensitive financial details, and so on from falling into the wrong hands.

What is not redacted?

An un-redacted document is a paper that contains Confidential Personal Information (CPI) that is not supposed to be submitted to the court under Court Rule 22 NYCRR §202.5(e), like a social security number, bank account number or birth date.

What is classed as third-party information?

Third-party data is any information collected by an entity that does not have a direct relationship with the user the data is being collected on. Third-party data is often generated on a variety of websites and platforms and is then aggregated together by a third-party data provider such as a DMP.

What are the reasons for redacting?

Other types of information appropriate for redaction include:
  • Medical information;
  • Trade secrets;
  • Informant names;
  • Sensitive security information;
  • Other forms of unique identifiers.

Who is data redacted?

What is Data Redaction? Data redaction is a method used to protect sensitive data from being compromised or leaked. It involves the removal of particular pieces of data from the whole of it, in an effort to keep it from being exposed as a whole and used for malicious or nefarious purposes.

What medical records are confidential?

Records of the identity, diagnosis, prognosis, or treatment of any patient or subject which are maintained in connection with the performance of any program or activity (including education, training, treatment, rehabilitation, or research) relating to drug abuse, alcoholism or alcohol abuse, infection with the human ...

Do phone numbers get redacted?

(2) The following information must be redacted from records to which the court allows remote access under (d): driver's license numbers; dates of birth; social security numbers; Criminal Identification and Information and National Crime Information numbers; addresses, e-mail addresses, and phone numbers of parties, ...

What should not be documented in a medical record?

The following is a list of items you should not include in the medical entry:
  • Financial or health insurance information,
  • Subjective opinions,
  • Speculations,
  • Blame of others or self-doubt,
  • Legal information such as narratives provided to your professional liability carrier or correspondence with your defense attorney,

What information should be redacted from medical records?

What information should be redacted?
  • Social Security Numbers (SSNs)
  • Driver's License Numbers (DL)
  • Date of Birth (DOB)
  • Medical Record Numbers (MRN)
  • Account Numbers.
  • Addresses.
  • Phone Numbers.

What information is always protected from discovery?

Certain types of information are generally protected from discovery; these include information which is privileged and the work product of the opposing party.

What is confidential in discovery?

Any party or non-party may designate as “Confidential Information” (by stamping the relevant page or as otherwise set forth herein) any document or response to discovery which that party or non-party considers in good faith to contain information involving trade secrets, or confidential business or financial ...

What information should be redacted in discovery?

Obviously, this requires knowing what type of information should be redacted. The answer to this question can vary in different contexts, but it often includes personally identifiable information (PII) such as names, phone numbers, and social security numbers.

Who decides what is redacted?

The decision about what needs to be redacted is typically made by the person responsible for the document, such as a government official or company executive. However, there are cases where a court may order redaction.

What is an example of redacting?

For example, US courts require that mentions of Social Security numbers, names of minor children, dates of birth, and financial account numbers be redacted in legal filings. You can make quick work of these redactions with the Find Text tool in PDFs that contain searchable text.

What information can you request from a third party?

Third Party Requests may include valid search warrants, court orders, or subpoenas, or any other request for which there is written consent from End Users permitting a disclosure. Third Party Request means any request, correspondence, inquiry, or complaint from a data subject, regulatory authority, or third party.

What are some examples of third parties?

Current U.S. third parties

Currently, the Libertarian and Green parties are the largest in the U.S. after the Republican and Democratic parties.

What is 3rd party evidence?

Third-party culprit evidence-evidence that someone else committed the crime charged, or had the motive, intent, and opportunity to do so-is "a time-honored method of defending against a criminal charge." Commonwealth v. Rosa, 422 Mass. 18, 22 (1996).

Why do things get redacted?

In law, “redacted” means editing a document to remove sensitive or private information before sharing it. This process ensures that confidential data, such as personal addresses or financial details, remains hidden from public view, preserving privacy and complying with legal requirements.

What are the rules for redacting documents?

Social Security Number and taxpayer identification numbers: Use only the LAST FOUR DIGITS. Dates of Birth: Use only the year of birth. Names of Minor Children: Use only the minor's initials. Home Address: If a home address must be included, use only the city and state.

What can you redact?

Readoption is the legal process of adopt- ing a child again in the United States, after the child has been lawfully adopted in another country. In a readoption, the adoptive parents, once back in the U.S., petition the appropriate court in their state of residence to adopt their child under the laws of their state.