Law / United States / 
New Jersey
Daniel's Law: ban on disclosing covered persons' home addresses and unpublished home telephone numbers
Daniel's Law, P.L.2020, c.125, as amended by P.L.2023, c.113, N.J. Stat. § 56:8-166.1
In force since .
A sensitive categories rule binding private bodies.
- Obligation class
- Prohibition, Data subject rights
- Audit expectation
- none
What it requires
- Within 10 business days after you receive written notice from an authorized person, stop disclosing or re-disclosing on the Internet, or otherwise making available, the home address or unpublished home telephone number of a covered person (N.J.S.A. 56:8-166.1(a)(1) and (2)).
- A covered person is an active, formerly active or retired judicial officer, law enforcement officer, child protective investigator in the Division of Child Protection and Permanency or prosecutor, and any immediate family member residing in the same household (N.J.S.A. 56:8-166.1(d)).
- Treat making information available or viewable within a searchable list or database as disclosure, whether or not anyone runs a search of it (N.J.S.A. 56:8-166.1(d)).
These lines are LexLint's reading of the law's text.
If you get it wrong
Private right of actionYes
Statutory damages
N.J.S.A. 56:8-166.1(c): the court shall award actual damages, but not less than liquidated damages computed at the rate of $1,000 for each violation, so the $1,000 floor is counted per violation rather than per plaintiff. It also awards punitive damages on proof of willful or reckless disregard of the law, reasonable attorney's fees and litigation costs, and other preliminary and equitable relief.
- As of
- Currency
- USD
- Per person minimum
- 1,000
Who enforces it
Enforcement body
The covered person or the covered person's assignee, in a civil action in the Superior Court (N.J.S.A. 56:8-166.1(b)). The section names no public enforcer.
What it makes you log
Logging duty
Section 56:8-166.1 bars disclosing a covered person's home address or unpublished home telephone number once an authorized person has given written notice, and makes a violator liable to the covered person or the covered person's assignee. It states no duty to create, keep or produce a log or record of notices received or information removed, and no territorial clause.
- Kind
- None
- As of
What this law does
No person, business or association may disclose or re-disclose on the Internet, or otherwise make available, the home address or unpublished home telephone number of a covered person once 10 business days have passed since it received written notice from an authorized person.
An authorized person invokes the prohibition by giving the person that discloses the information written notice that the sender is an authorized person, asking it to stop the disclosure and to remove the protected information from the Internet or wherever else it is made available.
A covered person is an active, formerly active or retired judicial officer, law enforcement officer, child protective investigator in the Division of Child Protection and Permanency or prosecutor, and any immediate family member residing in the same household. The term disclose includes making information available or viewable within a searchable list or database, whether or not a search of the list or database is actually performed.
The term person does not include the custodian of a government record. A person, business or association that violates the prohibition is liable to the covered person or the covered person's assignee, who may bring a civil action in the Superior Court.
The court shall award actual damages, but not less than liquidated damages computed at the rate of $1,000 for each violation, punitive damages on proof of willful or reckless disregard of the law, reasonable attorney's fees and litigation costs, and any other preliminary and equitable relief the court finds appropriate.
Daniel's Law, P.L.2020, c.125, took effect on its approval on , except that its provisions on law enforcement officers became operative and enforceable 18 months later. Section 6 of P.L.2023, c.113, which rewrote the prohibition, took effect with that act, while its sections 1 through 5 and 7 remained inoperative until the first day of the 13th month after enactment.
When LexLint raises it
When your app profile says your app processes personal data.
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