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  • Inside Track
    May 04, 2016

    Confidential: New Rules Protect Information in Court Records

    Beginning July 1, new rules passed by the Wisconsin Supreme Court will protect confidential information in court records.

    May 4, 2016 – In an age when stolen identities and cyberattacks are a common occurrence, what are courts doing to help protect confidential information?

    Keep critical numbers like Social Security and credit cards out of court records in the first place. Beginning July 1, new rules passed by the Wisconsin Supreme Court will protect confidential information in court records.

    “The rules are intended to create privacy for individuals and protect certain information so that people’s identities can’t be stolen,” says Gerald Ptacek, a Racine County Circuit Court judge and a member of the Consolidated Court Automation Programs (CCAP) steering committee that drafted the new rules. The CCAP website provides public access to Wisconsin circuit court records.

    Hon. Ptacek covers the new rules in detail in an upcoming State Bar of Wisconsin PINNACLE© webcast and in the May issue of Wisconsin Lawyer magazine. He summarizes them here.

    The Rule: Three Parts

    “The rule has generally three parts to it,” says Ptacek. The first part protects what are called Protected Information Numbers. These include Social Security numbers, financial institution numbers, and so on.

    The second part of the rule treats as confidential certain documents. “It requires that those documents required by case law and statute be filed as confidential,” says Ptacek. “It requires that the courts maintain a list of those documents, making it available to people who file documents in the clerk of courts office.”

    Finally, the third part of the rule is to allow parties to file motions to seal documents if they believe that the information should be protected from public access.

    “The biggest tip I would give is: If you don’t need the number, don’t put it in the record. Period. There’s no need to do that,” says Ptacek.

    The Filer is Responsible

    The filer is responsible for ensuring documents do not contain protected or confidential information. That is “the rule’s intent,” says Ptacek.

    Courts and judges are also bound by the rule to keep certain information out of the court record when filing an order or decision.

    “Anything filed on or after July 1 is required to comply with the rule,” says Ptacek. Parties seeking to protect documents prior to that date may “file a motion asking the court to seal it or protect it based upon whatever the item is and what the need might be.”

    What Information is Confidential?

    Five numbers are protected by the new rules and should be removed or redacted from documents:

    1. Social Security
    2. Employer and tax identification
    3. Financial accounts (such as banks and credit cards)
    4. Driver’s license
    5. Passport

    If any of these numbers are necessary to an action, Ptacek says the party should submit it on a protected-information form provided by the courts. Then redact the numbers in the documents.

    The rules apply to all types of cases. “Even cases that are by law themselves confidential, such as a juvenile court case, a mental commitment case, all cases whether confidential or public by their nature,” says Ptacek. “The rules apply to all.”

    “If you need to seal something that isn’t normally thought of as confidential or if you want some protection for it, look at the law and determine whether it is appropriate,” says Ptacek. “Rely on the forms that are provided – there’s a whole list of forms that applies to every scenario that might unfold in this rule that makes it easy for the filer, whether they are a lawyer or a layperson.”

    “In Wisconsin, records that are filed are simply court records; they are not available on the Internet for the public to look at,” says Ptacek. The public may access information by “going either to the courthouse to look at the hard copy file or by going to the clerk of courts’ office to get on a computer that’s a public access computer to get access to the record that’s a public record.”



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