The Record reports 118 class action lawsuits have been filed against data brokers who allegedly failed to respond to requests from New Jersey law enforcement personnel who requested their personal information be removed from the internet.
Daniel’s Law, named for Daniel Anderl, the son of Judge Esther Salas and Mark Anderl, who was murdered by an irate attorney, is a New Jersey law that prohibits disclosure of the residential addresses of certain persons covered by the law (“Covered Persons”) on websites controlled by state, county, and local government agencies.
Covered Persons includes former, active, and retired judicial officers, prosecutors, and members of law enforcement and their immediate family members residing in the same household.
With respect to Internet postings other than those on New Jersey state, county, and municipal government websites, an authorized person, as defined by law, seeking to prohibit the disclosure of the home address or unpublished home telephone number of any covered person shall provide written notice to the entity or person advising that they are an authorized person and that they are requesting that the entity or person cease the disclosure of the information and remove the protected information from the Internet or where it is otherwise made available. See, N.J.S.A. 2C:20-31.1(c) and N.J.S.A. 56:8-166.1(a)(2).
According to The Record:
New Jersey law prohibits the disclosure of home addresses and unpublished telephone numbers for current and retired police officers, prosecutors, and judges, along with their family members. If that information is disclosed, the law requires it be removed within 10 days of a takedown request.
Failure to do so could result in a $1,000 fine per violation.
The law enforcement officers are seeking $1,000 for each violation plus punitive damages and attorneys fees from the 118 data brokers, meaning each lawsuit could cost individual data brokers at least $20 million and hit the industry with at least $2.3 billion in fines, according to records found on a web portal for New Jersey courts.
Read more at The Record.
