What Counts as Valid Redaction
When an agency produces records with portions blacked out (redacted), those redactions must correspond to specific statutory exemptions. Common legitimate redactions include:
- Social Security numbers, driver's license numbers, financial account numbers
- Home addresses and personal phone numbers of private individuals (not public officials)
- Medical information protected by HIPAA
- Information identifying juveniles
- Ongoing criminal investigation details that would compromise the investigation
- Trade secrets and proprietary business information in government contracts
- Deliberative process material (in some states)
What is NOT a valid basis for redaction:
- Information that is merely embarrassing or politically inconvenient
- Names and titles of public officials acting in their official capacity
- Signatures of public officials on official documents
- Facts about how government decisions were made
- Information that is already publicly available elsewhere
Step 1: Request a Redaction Log
Ask the agency to provide a redaction log (sometimes called a Vaughn index in federal requests) that identifies:
- Each location where a redaction was made (by document and page number)
- The specific statutory exemption cited for each redaction
- A brief description of the type of information redacted (sufficient to evaluate the exemption claim without revealing the protected content)
Send this request in writing. Many agencies that produce over-redacted records are hoping requesters won't push back — a formal written request for a redaction log signals that you know your rights.
Step 2: Compare Redactions to the Claimed Exemptions
Once you have the redaction log, evaluate each claimed exemption:
- Does the type of information described match the exemption claimed?
- Is the exemption being applied to entire pages when only a few lines should be redacted?
- Is a broad exemption being used to cover what appears to be routine information?
- Are names of public officials (which are not exempt) being redacted along with genuinely private information?
Step 3: Request Segregation
A critical principle in public records law: agencies must provide the non-exempt portions of a record even if some portions are exempt. They cannot withhold an entire document because one paragraph is protected. This is called the "segregability" requirement.
If an agency has withheld entire pages or documents when only a portion should be redacted, write back and specifically invoke the segregability requirement. Ask them to produce the record with only the legitimately exempt portions redacted.
Step 4: File an Appeal Targeting Specific Redactions
An appeal challenging over-redaction is most effective when it targets specific redactions with specific arguments, rather than challenging all redactions broadly. For each redaction you're challenging:
- Identify the document, page, and redaction by reference to the redaction log
- State the specific exemption claimed
- Explain specifically why that exemption does not apply to the redacted content