Daniel’s Law in New Jersey: How It Protects Addresses

A New Jersey law lets certain public servants and their families order websites and data brokers to take down their home address and unpublished phone number.

By Siddharth ShankarUpdated October 19, 2026

Daniel’s Law is one of the most talked-about address privacy laws in the US. It is also widely misunderstood, because it protects a specific group of people rather than every resident.

What the law is for

The law protects the home addresses and unpublished home telephone numbers of covered persons. It has been in the news because data brokers and people-search sites sell exactly that kind of information. If you want to understand how brokers get it, read what data brokers are and why they have your information.

Who is covered

Under the text of the law, covered persons include active, formerly active or retired judicial officers and prosecutors, and law enforcement officers. Their immediate family members, such as a spouse, child, parent or another relative living in the same home, are covered too. Law firm summaries such as this one describe the group as judges, prosecutors, other law enforcement officers and their immediate families.

How a request works

A covered person, or their employer with their consent, sends a written request to the person, business or association that has made the information available. The recipient must remove it and must not disclose it again. The law applies to publishing and selling in searchable lists or databases, even if nobody actually searches.

There is a deadline for removal. The original 2020 text gives the recipient 72 hours, while later summaries from law firms and the press describe a ten-day period, so the rule has been described differently over time. If you are covered and relying on this, check the current statute rather than assuming.

What happens if a company ignores a request

A company that does not remove the data can face a civil lawsuit. Awards can include actual damages of at least $1,000 per violation, punitive damages for willful or reckless disregard, and attorney’s fees. The original text also created criminal offences: a reckless violation is a fourth-degree crime and a purposeful violation a third-degree crime.

Covered persons can assign their claims to others. Law firm reporting says tens of thousands of people assigned claims to Atlas Data Privacy Corporation, which has filed hundreds of lawsuits, mostly against data brokers.

Recent court developments

According to the New Jersey Monitor, in August 2026 the state Supreme Court ruled unanimously that the part of the law under which the data firms were sued does not require proof of a specific mental state, such as negligence. The court did not decide whether the law is constitutional. In April 2026, a federal court denied a motion to dismiss that argued the law infringed the First Amendment, according to the Womble Bond Dickinson summary. Court cases are still developing.

What if you are not covered?

Most people do not qualify, so there is no Daniel’s Law request for you. You still have options:

• Opt out of broker and people-search sites one by one. See how to opt out of data brokers yourself.
• Use state privacy rights where they apply. See how to send a CCPA deletion request.
• Find out where your address appears. Our guide to removing your address from the internet explains the steps.