11 U.S.C. § 107 — Public access to papers

(a) Except as subsections (b) and (c) say, and subject to section 112, a paper filed in a bankruptcy case and the bankruptcy court's dockets are public records. Any entity can look at them, at reasonable times, for free. (b) If a party in interest asks — or on its own — the bankruptcy court shall or may: (1) protect an entity's trade secrets or confidential research, development, or business information; or (2) protect a person from scandalous or defamatory material contained in a filed paper. (c) (1) For good cause, the court may protect an individual's information if disclosing it would create an undue risk of identity theft or other unlawful harm to the person or their property. This covers (A) any "means of identification," as defined in 18 U.S.C. 1028(d), in a filed or to-be-filed paper, and (B) other information contained in that same paper. (2) If an entity acting under a domestic government's police or regulatory power applies ex parte (without notice to the other side) and shows good cause, the court shall give it access to the protected information anyway. (3) The United States trustee, bankruptcy administrator, trustee, and any auditor serving under 28 U.S.C. 586(f) shall always have full access to everything filed in the case, but they shall not disclose information the court has specifically protected.