Daniel's Law, enacted in 2020 following a judge's murder, prohibits public disclosure of home addresses and unlisted phone numbers of judges and law enforcement officers. Atlas Data Privacy, a Delaware corporation, has filed dozens of lawsuits as assignee of claims under the statute against database providers including We Inform, LLC. The District Court denied defendants' motion to dismiss in November 2024, applying the Florida Star test and finding the law narrowly tailored to a state interest of the highest order. The Third Circuit subsequently affirmed, treating the statute as a privacy law subject to lesser constitutional scrutiny rather than strict First Amendment review.
Attorneys handling data privacy matters should note that this decision significantly expands liability exposure beyond traditional data brokers to any entity holding judges' or law enforcement officers' residential contact information. The ruling reinforces that Daniel's Law requires intentional or negligent wrongdoing rather than strict liability, but the bar for establishing such wrongdoing remains unsettled. Any website or database publishing truthful, lawfully obtained information about covered persons now faces material legal risk under New Jersey law.