What Is Daniel's Law?
Daniel’s Law is commonly used for role-specific privacy protections developed after the 2020 attack on the family of Judge Esther Salas. New Jersey’s statute and the federal Daniel Anderl Act are different measures with different scope and routes; a deadline or remedy must be checked against the applicable law and source.
The key facts
- Origin
- New Jersey P.L. 2020, c. 125
- Federal version
- Daniel Anderl Judicial Security and Privacy Act (2022)
- NJ private-internet notice rule
- Generally 10 business days for qualifying covered disclosures, subject to scope and exceptions
- NJ government-site route
- Office of Information Privacy portal and approved redaction process
- Federal measure
- Administrative Office judicial-privacy authority; no universal broker deadline stated here
- Covered persons
- Role- and jurisdiction-specific; family coverage also varies
- Other states
- Verify the current statute and route for each state
Primary sources
- New Jersey P.L. 2020, c. 125 for the original law, together with P.L. 2021, c. 371 and P.L. 2023, c. 113 for the current framework and amendments.
- New Jersey Office of Information Privacy and its program overview for government-site redaction, covered-person scope, and the separate written-notice route.
- U.S. Courts overview of the Daniel Anderl Act and the judiciary's implementation materials.
Reviewed August 25, 2026. These sources support bounded descriptions of the laws, scope, routes, and timing only; they do not establish eligibility for every role, provider acceptance, guaranteed removal, or a universal deadline.
Why was Daniel's Law created?
On July 13, 2020, Daniel Anderl was shot and killed at his family’s New Jersey home. A former litigant who had found Federal Judge Esther Salas’s home address on the Internet arrived posing as a deliveryman. Daniel’s father, Mark Anderl, was also shot and critically wounded.
Judge Salas subsequently advocated for legislative change, resulting in New Jersey’s Daniel’s Law and the federal Daniel Anderl Judicial Security and Privacy Act. Other jurisdictions may have related protections, but their covered roles, records, routes, deadlines, and remedies are not automatically equivalent.
Who does Daniel's Law cover?
Coverage is statute-specific. The following examples are not a universal definition:
- Federal judges and eligible family members under the federal measure
- New Jersey active, formerly active, and retired judicial officers, prosecutors, and law enforcement officers
- Qualifying New Jersey immediate family members residing in the same household
- New Jersey child protective investigators included by P.L. 2023, c. 113
- Other states may cover different roles, records, or family relationships
- Active, former, or retired status only where the applicable law includes it
How do you invoke Daniel's Law?
- 1
Confirm your covered status under the applicable statute (state or federal).
- 2
Identify the data brokers exposing your address, use OfflistMe's directory of 1000+ brokers or a targeted exposure check.
- 3
Submit a written request to each applicable publisher citing the specific statute. Provide only the proof the current route requests; do not send a badge, bar number, or appointment document merely because a template suggests it.
- 4
Track the response rule that actually applies: qualifying New Jersey private-internet notices generally use 10 business days; OIP government-site redaction and the federal program are separate routes, and other jurisdictions require separate checks.
- 5
If a source does not respond, preserve the request and any acknowledgement, use the current provider or public-authority route, and obtain qualified legal advice before asserting a remedy.
Generate requests in under 60 seconds
Generate priority data-broker removal requests for $9 one-time
FAQ
Who was Daniel Anderl?+
Daniel Anderl was the 20-year-old son of US District Judge Esther Salas. On July 13, 2020, a former litigant who had found Judge Salas's home address on the Internet arrived at the family home posing as a deliveryman, fatally shot Daniel, and critically wounded Judge Salas's husband. The incident helped prompt federal and state legislative efforts to protect eligible judicial officers and other covered people from online exposure.
What does the original New Jersey Daniel's Law require?+
New Jersey's 2020 law was supplemented by P.L. 2021, c. 371, which repealed the original 72-hour provision and established the current framework; P.L. 2023, c. 113 later added child protective investigators to the covered-person definition. For a qualifying written notice to a person, business, or association publishing protected home-address or unpublished-home-telephone information, the current Internet-posting statutes generally use a 10-business-day period to stop disclosure and remove the information, subject to statutory scope and exceptions. The Office of Information Privacy portal and redaction process for New Jersey government websites is a separate route.
Who is covered by Daniel's Law?+
New Jersey's current OIP and statutory materials identify active, formerly active, and retired judicial officers, law enforcement officers, and prosecutors, plus qualifying immediate family members residing in the same household. P.L. 2023, c. 113 also includes child protective investigators in the Division of Child Protection and Permanency. Other states may cover different roles, records, or family relationships, so do not treat this list as a nationwide definition.
What is the federal Daniel Anderl Act?+
The Daniel Anderl Judicial Security and Privacy Act of 2022 gives the federal judiciary authority and resources to help protect and remove eligible personally identifiable information of federal judges and certain family members. The official federal materials reviewed here do not establish a general 72-hour self-service deadline that every data broker must meet for a consumer request. Use the current Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts process and any applicable source-specific law.
Which states have Daniel's Law-equivalents?+
There is no stable, one-line list of equivalent statutes. State protections differ in covered roles, family members, sources, request format, exceptions, deadlines, and remedies. Verify the current statute or regulator guidance for the state and role at issue instead of treating another state's law as an automatic equivalent.
How do I invoke Daniel's Law?+
First confirm that the statute covers you, the information, and the recipient. Then use the current route for each source and cite the precise provision that applies. For qualifying New Jersey private-internet notices, the current statutes generally use a written notice and 10-business-day rule; the OIP portal and government-site redaction process are separate. The federal act uses an Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts program; do not substitute the New Jersey rule or assume that a federal program creates the same direct request process for every broker.
Does Daniel's Law cover ordinary citizens?+
These role-specific statutes are not general opt-out laws for every resident. Ordinary residents may have other privacy, consumer-protection, public-record, or platform remedies depending on the source and jurisdiction; check the law that actually fits the request.
What are the penalties for a broker that ignores a Daniel's Law request?+
New Jersey's statute provides civil remedies that can include actual or liquidated damages, punitive damages in specified circumstances, attorney's fees, and equitable relief. The exact remedy depends on the violation, covered person, defendant, and current law. The federal act creates a federal judiciary privacy program; do not infer a private damages remedy or a particular federal penalty from the program alone.