This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. If you believe you qualify for protection under one of these laws, consult an attorney or your professional association in your state.
The Law That Started With a Tragedy
In July 2020, a man who had appeared before U.S. District Judge Esther Salas showed up at her New Jersey home disguised as a delivery driver and shot her son, Daniel Anderl, who died from his injuries. The shooter had found the family’s home address through public records and data broker sites. In response, New Jersey passed Daniel’s Law later that year, one of the strongest data-broker address-removal laws in the country.
What Daniel’s Law Actually Requires
Daniel’s Law lets covered individuals (active and retired judges, prosecutors, and law enforcement officers, along with their immediate family members) submit a written request to a data broker demanding removal of their home address and unpublished home phone number. The data broker then has ten days to comply. Violations carry damages of at least $1,000 per violation plus attorneys’ fees, and the law allows a private right of action, meaning covered individuals can sue directly rather than relying solely on state enforcement.
That enforcement teeth is what makes Daniel’s Law unusual. More than 140 lawsuits have been filed under it since it took effect, and a coalition of 42 state attorneys general filed a brief supporting its constitutionality when it faced a First Amendment challenge from data broker groups. The law survived that challenge.
Who’s Actually Covered
Daniel’s Law currently covers judges, active and retired law enforcement officers, and prosecutors, along with their spouses, domestic partners, and children, in New Jersey. If you fall into one of these categories and have a connection to New Jersey (even if you no longer live there, some provisions extend to former residents), it’s worth confirming your eligibility with an attorney or your professional association.
Other States Following New Jersey’s Lead
New Jersey was first, but it isn’t alone anymore. A number of other states have passed or are actively considering similar address-confidentiality protections specifically for judges, law enforcement, and other public officials, generally modeled on Daniel’s Law’s core mechanism: a written removal request, a short compliance window, and a private right of action or meaningful penalty for non-compliance. The specific list of covered professions and the compliance window varies by state, so if you’re a judge, prosecutor, or law enforcement officer outside New Jersey, check with your state attorney general’s office or professional association (such as your state’s judicial conference or police benevolent association) about whether your state has enacted its own version.
What This Doesn’t Cover
These laws are narrow by design, they protect a specific, high-risk category of public officials, not the general public. If you don’t fall into one of the covered categories, you don’t have the same ten-day compliance right or statutory damages. You still have the standard opt-out rights every consumer has under each data broker’s own removal process, and under broader state privacy laws like California’s CCPA or Colorado’s CPA, but not the accelerated, enforceable mechanism Daniel’s Law provides.
There is active advocacy to expand similar protections to a broader set of at-risk individuals, including domestic violence survivors, but as of now the covered categories remain specific to judges, prosecutors, and law enforcement.
What to Do If You’re Covered
- Confirm your eligibility with your professional association or an attorney familiar with Daniel’s Law or your state’s equivalent.
- Submit a written removal request to each data broker holding your information, citing the specific statute. Your professional association may have a template request letter already prepared.
- Document non-compliance. If a broker doesn’t comply within the required window, that failure is the basis for a claim, keep records of your original request and the date it was sent.
- Consider pairing this with a standard removal service for brokers or information categories the statute doesn’t specifically cover. See our comparison of Incogni, DeleteMe, Optery, and Aura.
The Bottom Line
Daniel’s Law exists because the ordinary data broker opt-out process, useful as it is for most people, wasn’t fast or enforceable enough for individuals facing real, documented threats. If you’re a judge, prosecutor, or law enforcement officer, this law (or your own state’s version of it) gives you a real, penalty-backed removal right that the general public doesn’t have. Use it.
