What does redaction mean in law?
Sarah Cherry
Published Mar 07, 2026
What does redaction mean in law?
Redacting means editing a document to delete or mask information that has been deemed as privileged or confidential, says Lisa Gilbert, vice president of legislative affairs at Public Citizen. Typically, personal data such as someone’s social security number is removed from public legal documents to ensure privacy.
What personal information should be redacted?
Social Security Numbers, Taxpayer identification numbers, names of minors, dates of birth, financial account numbers, home addresses, passport numbers, and driver license numbers. Please refer to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 5.2 and Local Rule 5.2-1.
What is an unredacted document?
[ uhn-ri-dak-tid ] SHOW IPA. / ˌən rɪˈdæk tɪd / PHONETIC RESPELLING. adjective. (of a document) with confidential or sensitive information included or visible:We compared the redacted and unredacted versions; the vast majority of the deletions refer to staff memoranda, notes, and conclusions.
What does confidential disclosure of protected information mean?
Protected Information means any commercially confidential information which:(a) relates to the affairs of a person; and (b) has been furnished to, or otherwise acquired by, the Licensee or by any affiliate or related undertaking of the Licensee in the course of any dealings with that person or any affiliate or related …
What is the purpose of redaction?
Common in court documents and within the government, redaction is to hide or remove (confidential parts of a text) before publication or distribution, or to examine (a text) for this purpose.
What can you redact in a legal document?
What Information Needs Redacting?
- Social security numbers.
- Driver’s license or professional license numbers.
- Protected health information and other medical information.
- Financial documents and files.
- Proprietary information or trade secrets.
- Judiciary records.
Can a redacted document be unredacted?
The redaction process is a one way process. It means therefore that you cannot undo redaction in PDF once you have it done. The redacted text will be replaced by a colored box. It is not possible to unredact PDF documents.
What does unredacted mean in law?
adjective. (of text) not having had sections censored or obscured for legal or security purposes. ‘a unredacted version of the report’ ‘the subpoena requested unredacted documents’
When can you disclose information without consent?
There are a few scenarios where you can disclose PHI without patient consent: coroner’s investigations, court litigation, reporting communicable diseases to a public health department, and reporting gunshot and knife wounds.
What makes a case confidential?
(1) Nothing filed publicly in the reviewing court-including any application, brief, petition, or memorandum-may disclose material contained in a confidential record, including a record that, by law, a party may choose be kept confidential in reviewing court proceedings and that the party has chosen to keep confidential …
Does redact mean remove?
Redaction, which means removing information from documents, is necessary when confidential information must be removed from a document before final publication.
What is an example of redaction?
An example of to redact is to create a legal document. An example of to redact is to delete classified information from a document before it is published.
What does redacted mean in legal terms?
Censor or obscure (part of a text) for legal or security purposes. ‘The two officials said the administration plans to propose redacting parts of the memos.’ ‘Now, a lot of the report has been redacted.’
What does redacted mean in an RFP?
Redacted means a version/copy of the proposal with the information considered confidential as defined by NMAC 1.4.1.45 and defined herein and outlined in Section II.C.8 of this RFP blacked out BUT NOT omitted or removed. Redacted means, [REDACTED].
Are some of the conclusions in the report being redacted?
‘Some of the conclusions in the report have been redacted.’ ‘I hope that it’s not redacted and that we actually get to see all of the information the commission is collecting right now.’ Censor or obscure (part of a text) for legal or security purposes. ‘The two officials said the administration plans to propose redacting parts of the memos.’
When can a party redact information from a disclosure?
For example, as part of the disclosure process in the course of litigation, or before a commercial transaction, a party may redact irrelevant commercially sensitive or confidential material and privileged material that should not be disclosed to the other party.