FRCP 5.2: Redaction Categories, Exemptions, and Sealed Filings

Under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 5.2, the redaction requirements for a federal civil filing cover four categories of personal information: Social Security and taxpayer identification numbers, dates of birth, the names of minor children, and financial account numbers. The responsibility for redacting sits entirely with the person making the filing, not the clerk, and it applies to paper and electronic submissions alike.¹

The Four Categories You Must Redact

Rule 5.2(a) lists exactly four identifiers a filer may include only in partial form.¹ If any of these appear anywhere in your document — including exhibits, attachments, and quoted material — you need to cut them down before the document reaches the public docket.

Social Security numbers and taxpayer identification numbers. Include only the last four digits, so a Social Security number appears as XXX-XX-1234.
Dates of birth. Include only the year. January 15, 1980 becomes 1980.
Names of minors. Replace the full name with the child’s initials. The rule reaches anyone “known to be a minor” at the time of filing.
Financial account numbers. Include only the last four digits. This covers bank accounts, credit cards, brokerage accounts, and similar identifiers.

Read the operative phrase carefully. The rule says a filer “may include only” the partial versions. That phrasing functions as a prohibition on the full versions, even though it does not read like one on first pass. Putting the complete number in the filing is a violation, not a bonus disclosure.

What the Rule Does Not Cover

The four categories above are the complete list on the civil side. Rule 5.2(a) does not require redaction of home addresses, phone numbers, email addresses, driver’s license numbers, or alien registration numbers. If any of those need protection in your case, you need a court order under a separate provision, discussed below.

When the Redaction Rules Do Not Apply

Rule 5.2(b) exempts six categories of filings from the standard redaction requirement.¹ Redaction is not required for:

A financial account number that identifies property alleged to be subject to forfeiture, because concealing the number would defeat the point of the proceeding.
The record of an administrative or agency proceeding.
The official record of a state court proceeding.
A record of a court or tribunal that was not itself subject to a redaction requirement when originally filed.
Filings covered by Rule 5.2(c) or (d), which follow their own procedures.
Pro se filings in habeas corpus actions under 28 U.S.C. §§ 2241, 2254, or 2255. If you have counsel in a habeas case, the standard redaction rules still apply.

Getting Full Information to the Court When It Still Needs It

Sometimes the judge and the parties genuinely need the complete identifier even though the public record cannot show it. Rule 5.2 gives you three tools, and choosing the right one depends on how much unredacted material is involved.

Filing Under Seal by Court Order

Rule 5.2(d) allows the court to order that a filing be made under seal without redaction. The court keeps the power to unseal that filing later or to direct the filer to submit a redacted version for the public record.¹ This route requires a court order. Sensitive content alone does not authorize a filer to seal a document unilaterally.

An Unredacted Copy Alongside the Redacted One

Rule 5.2(f) offers a simpler option. When you file the redacted document publicly, you may also file an unredacted copy under seal, and the court must retain that copy as part of the record.² The judge and counsel see everything; the public sees the redacted version.

A Reference List

Rule 5.2(g) suits cases where the same redacted identifiers appear across many filings. Instead of sealing an unredacted version of every document, you file a single reference list that ties each redacted item to a unique identifier used throughout the public filings. “Account A” on the public docket points to the full account number on the sealed list.²

The reference list is filed under seal and can be amended as of right, without the court’s permission. Any reference in the case to a listed identifier is construed to point to the corresponding full information. For multi-party litigation with numerous accounts, this is far more efficient than sealing individual documents.

Asking for Protection Beyond the Four Categories

Because Rule 5.2(a) covers only four identifiers, plenty of sensitive information falls outside its automatic protection. Rule 5.2(e) is the escape valve. On a showing of good cause, the court may order redaction of additional information, or it may limit or prohibit remote electronic access by non-parties to a particular document.¹ The advisory committee pointed to driver’s license numbers and alien registration numbers as the kind of details this provision is designed to cover. The rule also clarifies that Rule 5.2(e) does not expand or limit the court’s existing authority to seal entire documents.

Social Security and Immigration Cases

Rule 5.2(c) sets up a separate access framework for Social Security benefit cases and immigration cases involving removal, relief from removal, or immigration detention. These files typically include administrative records loaded with sensitive personal information, so the rule limits remote viewing rather than relying solely on redaction.¹

Parties and their attorneys have full remote electronic access to the entire case file, including the administrative record. Non-parties can view the full file only at the courthouse. Remotely, non-parties see the docket and any opinions, orders, judgments, or other dispositions, but not the remainder of the file or the administrative record, unless the court orders otherwise.

If You File Something Unredacted by Mistake

Rule 5.2(h) contains a waiver provision that surprises some filers. A person who files their own personal information without redacting it, and without sealing it, waives the rule’s protection for that information.¹ The waiver reaches only your own information. You cannot waive someone else’s privacy protection by filing their unredacted data.

When an accidental disclosure happens, the filer has to fix it. The clerk cannot edit a filed document. The usual sequence is to submit a corrected version with the identifiers properly redacted and then move the court to restrict access to the original. Many district courts have local rules on the exact procedure and any associated fees for a retroactive redaction motion, so check yours before filing the motion.

Compliance rides entirely on the filer. The clerk has no duty to screen documents for Rule 5.2 problems, which means no one catches the unredacted Social Security number buried on page 47 of an exhibit until it is already sitting on PACER.¹

Redacting a PDF the Right Way

Proper redaction is not a black rectangle drawn over text. An overlay that leaves the underlying characters intact can be copied out, searched, or stripped by manipulating the PDF’s layers. Use a redaction tool that permanently deletes the underlying content, then test the finished document by trying to select and search for the redacted text. If the text comes back, the redaction did not work.

Metadata is the second trap. Tracked changes, comments, author names, and other embedded data survive a visual redaction and travel with the file. Strip metadata before filing and check the document’s properties. Exhibits received from clients or third parties deserve the closest look, because they often carry embedded information the filer never sees on the page.

Criminal Cases Use a Different Rule

Rule 5.2 governs civil filings only. Federal criminal cases follow Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 49.1, which mirrors the civil rule with one added category: home addresses are redacted to city and state.³ Attorneys who practice in both settings sometimes redact home addresses in civil filings as a matter of habit, but on the civil side only the four categories in Rule 5.2(a) are actually required.

1
Legal Information Institute. Federal Rules of Civil Procedure Rule 5.2 – Privacy Protection For Filings Made with the Court
2
GovInfo. 28 USC Appendix Rule 5.2 – Privacy Protection For Filings Made with the Court
3
Legal Information Institute. Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure Rule 49.1 – Privacy Protection For Filings Made with the Court