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Unredacted Social Security Numbers in Federal Court PACER Documents

Joe S. Cecil, George W. Cort, Ashley Mason Springer, Vashty Gobinpersad
October 25, 2015

This report summarizes a Center study of instances of individuals’ unredacted Social Security numbers appearing in documents filed in federal district and bankruptcy courts in November 2013 and available through the Public Access to Court Electronic Records (PACER) service. The presence of Social Security numbers for approximately 75% of these individuals appears to violate rules adopted by the Judicial Conference of the United States. 

 

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Tags:
Social Security | Public Access to Court Electronic Records (PACER) | Privacy | Federal Rules of Practice and Procedure | Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure | Fed. R. Crim. P. 49.1 | Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure | Fed. R. App. P. 25 | Federal Rules of Civil Procedure | Fed. R. Civil P. 5.2 | Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure | Fed. R. Bankr. P. 9037 | Research Reports