Redacting SSNs and personal info from court filings

This is for lawyers, paralegals and people filing on their own. It covers the federal civil rule and two big state rules. The quotes come from the official rule books, checked on October 24, 2026. Your court may have local rules on top of these, so check those too.

Federal court: Rule 5.2

Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 5.2(a) says that, unless the court orders otherwise, a filing that contains these details may include only:

(1) the last four digits of the social-security number and taxpayer-identification number;
(2) the year of the individual's birth;
(3) the minor's initials; and
(4) the last four digits of the financial-account number.

In plain words:

• SSNs and tax ID numbers: last four digits only.
• Birth dates: the year only.
• Minors: initials only, for anyone known to be a minor.
• Financial account numbers: last four digits only.

When the rule does not apply

Rule 5.2(b) lists exceptions. Among them: an account number that identifies property in a forfeiture case, the record of an agency proceeding, the official record of a state-court case, and filings made under seal.

Your options, and the trap

• File the full copy under seal too. Rule 5.2(f) lets you file an unredacted copy under seal alongside the redacted one.
• Use a reference list. Rule 5.2(g) lets you file a sealed list that pairs each redacted item with a stand-in label. The label then means the full value everywhere in the case.
• Waiver. Rule 5.2(h) says a person waives the protection for their own information by filing it without redaction and not under seal. So a person who files their own full SSN in the open loses this protection for it.

California: Rule of Court 1.201

California's rule covers papers in the court's public file, on paper or electronic. For Social Security numbers, it says:

"only the last four digits of that number may be used."

Financial account numbers get the same last-four limit. Two more points from the rule:

• It is on you. The rule puts the job solely on the parties and their lawyers. It says the clerk "will not review each pleading or other paper for compliance with this provision."
• A confidential list is possible. If the court orders it for good cause, you can file a confidential reference list on form MC-120.

Texas: Rule of Civil Procedure 21c

Texas is stricter, and it is easy to get wrong if you learned the federal rule first. Rule 21c calls these "sensitive data":

• Driver's license, passport, Social Security and tax ID numbers, and similar government ID numbers
• Bank account, credit card and other financial account numbers
• The birth date, home address and name of anyone who was a minor when the suit was filed

The rule does not keep a last four. It says to put the letter X "in place of each omitted digit or character," or to remove the data in a way that shows it was redacted. That applies unless a statute, court rule or regulation requires the data, and it does not apply to wills or sealed filings. You must also keep an unredacted copy while the case is pending, and during any related appeal filed within six months of the judgment. And if a document must contain sensitive data, you have to tell the clerk.

Five steps before you file

1. Know your court's rule. Federal court keeps a last four. Texas does not. Check local rules too.
2. Find every identifier. Look in the body, the exhibits, the headers and the footers. Bank statements and tax forms hide account numbers in small print.
3. Redact for real. A black box drawn on top can leave the number in the text underneath. The text has to be removed, not covered.
4. Check the result. Search the finished PDF for the numbers, and try copying text from under each box.
5. Keep your full copy. Texas requires it. Everywhere else, it is still how you prove what you filed.

How to do it with KeptPDF Redact

Redact finds SSNs, tax ID numbers, account numbers, card numbers, dates, names and more, and puts a box on each one. When you apply, the text under the box is removed from the PDF, not just covered. It runs in your browser. The file is not uploaded to KeptPDF.

For federal and California filings, there is a Keep last 4 digits switch. It shows up when Redact finds an SSN, ITIN, EIN, card number, account number or IBAN. Turn it on, and the box covers every digit but the last four.

1. Open Redact and drop in the PDF.
2. Run auto-detect, then review every box. Add any it missed.
3. Pick your rule. For federal or California court, turn on Keep last 4 digits. For Texas, leave it off so the whole number goes.
4. Handle dates and minors by hand. The switch does not touch dates or names. A birth date is boxed whole, so resize the box to leave the year showing if your rule allows it. Redact boxes a minor's full name. It does not write initials for you.
5. Apply and check. Download the redacted PDF and search it for the numbers you removed.

One honest note. Auto-detect can miss a number, and on a blurry scan it may box a whole number when it cannot read the digits clearly. You are still the one who checks the filing. See how to check if a PDF redaction worked.

Sources

Quotes come from the official rule texts. Outside the short quotes, we summarize in our own words.

• U.S. Courts: Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (Rule 5.2, Privacy Protection for Filings Made with the Court)
• Judicial Branch of California: California Rules of Court, Rule 1.201, Protection of privacy
• Texas Judicial Branch: Texas Rules of Civil Procedure (Rule 21c, Privacy Protection for Filed Documents)

This is not legal advice. It is a plain-English summary for general information. Criminal, bankruptcy and appellate courts have their own privacy rules, so check the rule that fits your case.