Privacy Law Library

Daniel's Law (nondisclosure of covered persons' home addresses and unpublished telephone numbers)

Daniel's Law

Other · Data brokers · Government records

Enacted after the 2020 killing of Daniel Anderl, son of U.S. District Judge Esther Salas, Daniel's Law lets judges, prosecutors, law enforcement officers, child protective investigators, and their household family members demand that anyone stop publishing their home address or unpublished home phone number. After written notice, the recipient has 10 business days to stop disclosing and remove the information, or face civil liability (which can be pursued by an assignee) and possible criminal charges.

Where
New Jersey
Citation
N.J.S.A. 56:8-166.1 (civil), 56:8-166.3; N.J.S.A. 2C:20-31.1 (criminal); related public-records provisions at N.J.S.A. 47:1B-1 et seq.; P.L.2020, c.125, amended by P.L.2021, c.24, P.L.2021, c.371 and P.L.2023, c.113
Status
In force
In force since
2020-11-20
Last amended
2023-07-20
Enforced by
Private civil action in Superior Court by the covered person or an assignee; county prosecutors and the Attorney General for the criminal offense in N.J.S.A. 2C:20-31.1
People can sue
Yes
Penalties
Civil: the court shall award actual damages of not less than $1,000 liquidated damages per violation, punitive damages for willful or reckless disregard, attorney's fees and costs, and equitable relief (56:8-166.1(c)). The New Jersey Supreme Court held in August 2026 that no mental state is required for the actual/liquidated damages award. Criminal: reckless disclosure after notice is a fourth-degree crime; purposeful disclosure is a third-degree crime (2C:20-31.1(d)).
Applies to
  • Any person, business, or association that discloses or makes available (including within a searchable list or database) the home address or unpublished home telephone number of a covered person (56:8-166.1(a), (d))
  • Covered persons: active, former, or retired judicial officers, law enforcement officers, child protective investigators in the Division of Child Protection and Permanency (added by P.L.2023, c.113), and prosecutors, plus immediate family members living in the same household (56:8-166.1(d))
  • Government records custodians are not 'persons' under the civil provision; they are covered by separate redaction rules in N.J.S.A. 47:1B-1 et seq. Printed newspapers and telephone directories have limited carve-outs (56:8-166.1(d), (f))

Rights it gives people

  • Covered persons (or authorized persons such as a U.S. Marshals designee, a trustee, or a minor's parent) may send nondisclosure notices and may assign in writing their right to sue.N.J.S.A. 56:8-166.1(a)(2), (d)

Practices it requires

  • Within 10 business days after written notice from an authorized person, stop disclosing, re-disclosing, or otherwise making available the covered person's home address or unpublished home telephone number, including on the Internet or in a searchable database.N.J.S.A. 56:8-166.1(a)(1)-(2) · Only if: Triggered by receipt of a written nondisclosure notice
  • Entities that lawfully receive unredacted addresses under the public-records exceptions in 47:1B-1 to 47:1B-3 may use them only for the purposes for which they were received.N.J.S.A. 56:8-166.1(e); 2C:20-31.1(e)

Other duties

  • A family member who moves out of the covered person's household must notify recipients within 30 days that they no longer live there.N.J.S.A. 56:8-166.1(a)(3)
  • After notice, knowingly posting or making available a covered person's home address or unpublished number with purpose to expose them to harassment or harm, or in reckless disregard of that risk, is a crime.N.J.S.A. 2C:20-31.1(b), (d)

Sources

Checked against these sources on 2026-09-25 by research agent (Claude), primary sources.

Unverified: Litigation status: the District of New Jersey denied facial First Amendment challenges (758 F. Supp. 3d 322 (D.N.J. 2024)); the Third Circuit (No. 25-1555, argued July 2025) certified a question on the required mental state, and the New Jersey Supreme Court answered on August 12, 2026 that none is required for actual-damages liability. Whether the Third Circuit has since ruled on the constitutional question was not confirmed. | The current text of N.J.S.A. 56:8-166.2 (original 2020 'request to remove' section) could not be retrieved from the statutes database; it may have been superseded by the 2021 amendments. | The effective_date shown is the original 2020 enactment (effective immediately; law-enforcement-officer provisions became operative 18 months later). The civil provision was first enacted in 2015 (P.L.2015, c.226, s.3) for law enforcement officers only.

Research reference, not legal advice.