Rule 6: Protection of Privacy
See also Rule 48 (Sealing of Cases)
and
E-Rule 4 (Locked Documents, Redaction)
(a) Public Records. Court records are public records and once filed are not protected by Federal privacy statutes or regulations. Pursuant to the Court's E-Rules, certain documents are locked; parties may seek to have additional documents locked (See E-Rules 4 and 1(a)(4)) or sealed pursuant to Rule 48 (Sealing of Cases). Therefore, parties shall refrain from putting a VA claims file number or other personal identifier (e.g., Social Security number, date of birth, financial account number, name of minor child) on any filings not locked or sealed; use of the Court's docket number is sufficient identification. In addition, parties shall redact any VA claims file number or other personal identifier from other documents submitted to the Court that are not locked or sealed.
(b) Uniformity. For purposes of uniformity, redactions should be made as follows:
(1) for Social Security numbers, use only the last four digits,
(2) for date of birth, use only the year,
(3) for financial account numbers, use only the last four digits or a lesser number if needed to preserve privacy,
(4) for the name of a minor child, use only the initials.
(c) Challenges. Parties who wish to challenge a redaction may do so by filing a motion with the Court within 15 days of the redacted document's filing.
