TITLE TWO — COMMENCEMENT OF ACTION; SERVICE OF PROCESS, PLEADINGS, MOTIONS AND ORDERS
Rule 5.6. Sensitive Information in Filings
The System Provides No Protection. The electronic filing system provides no redaction of any document and no sealing of any document within a matter that is not of a restricted type under Rule 5.4. A document, once received, is in the record as transmitted and cannot be altered, redacted, replaced, withdrawn, or removed. The duty to protect sensitive information therefore falls entirely upon the filer, and this rule imposes it.
Duty of the Filer. A person shall not transmit to the electronic filing system, in any document or in any field of a filing:
A credential of any kind, including a password, a recovery code, a session token, an authentication key, or a means of access to an account or a service;
Information identifying a natural person behind an account otherwise than by username, including a legal name, a residential address, a telephone number, an electronic mail address, an employer, a school, or a photographic likeness, unless that information is itself the matter in issue;
A financial account number, other than the last four digits of it;
The identity of a person known to be a minor, otherwise than by username;
Material that a protective order forbids that person to disclose;
Material drawn from a restricted matter to which the person has access by reason of office; or
Material that a statute forbids that person to disclose.
Redaction by the Filer. Where a document would otherwise contain material described in Rule 5.6(2), the filer shall omit or obscure the material before transmitting the document. Redaction is an act of the filer performed before transmission and is available at no other time and from no other person.
Waiver as to One’s Own Information. A person who transmits that person’s own information without omitting or obscuring it waives the protection of this rule as to that information. Nothing in this subdivision permits a person to waive the protection of Rule 5.6(2) as to another.
Ground for Rejection. The inclusion of material described in Rule 5.6(2) is a ground for rejection by the clerk under Rule 5.3(4)(e). Rejection is the only means by which such material is kept out of the record, and it is available only before acceptance.
No Removal After Acceptance. After acceptance, the material is in the record. No motion shall be made and no order shall issue to seal, redact, remove, restrict, or expunge it. Rule 5.4(9) governs.
Protective Orders Operate Against Persons. A protective order is an order in personam. It commands a named person to do or refrain from doing an act — to refrain from disclosing designated material, from transmitting it to the electronic filing system, from producing it, or from using it beyond the purposes of the litigation. A protective order:
Binds only the persons it names and the persons on whose behalf they act;
Operates upon no document, upon no filing, and upon no capability of the electronic filing system;
Does not remove, seal, redact, or withhold anything already in the record; and
Presentation Without Filing. Where material is necessary to the decision of a question but its transmission to the electronic filing system would violate Rule 5.6(2) or a protective order, the court may direct that the material be presented for its inspection in the proceeding communications or in such other manner as the court directs, without being transmitted to the electronic filing system. Material so presented is not filed, does not become part of the record, and shall not be relied upon in a judgment except so far as the court’s findings, entered upon the record, describe it.
Choice of Case Type. A person who requires that a matter be confidential shall consider whether the matter may be brought as a case of a restricted type. Confidentiality is not otherwise obtainable, and a person who transmits sensitive material to a matter that is not of a restricted type is presumed to have intended its publication.
Sanctions. A violation of Rule 5.6(2) is subject to sanction under Rule 11 and 7 R. Stat. §§ 132.301 through 132.304, to contempt under Rule 53, and to referral for prosecution. Sanctions run against the person; they do not alter the record.