In 2022, the Judicial Conference Committee on Practice and Procedure ("Standing Committee") appointed a working group of reporters from each Advisory Committee to discuss a suggestion by Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) to reconsider whether to require complete redaction of social security numbers (SSNs) in federal court filings. This work has expanded to include several other privacy issues, including a DOJ proposal to better protect minors under existing rules by using pseudonyms rather than initials in court filings.

AAJ and the National Crime Victims Bar Association (NCVBA) previously filed a joint letter of support of the DOJ proposal in March 2024, encouraging the Advisory Committees to consider the use of gender-neutral pseudonyms and pronouns.

In response to the ongoing discussion on privacy involving the elimination of partial social-security numbers as identifiers, AAJ submitted an additional comment to expand upon its concerns regarding the importance of reevaluating the federal rules’ privacy protections.

 

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