Decoding "Daniel's Law," A New Frontier For Privacy Litigation

Previously recognized as a creative response by New Jersey's state legislature to a tragic incident, Daniel's Law has suddenly emerged as a catalyst for privacy litigation. Since February, plaintiffs have initiated over a hundred civil lawsuits invoking Daniel's Law, leveraging the law's unique assignment provisions to allow a tech startup, Atlas Data Privacy, to file and litigate on behalf of individuals. Daniel's Law litigation is part of a broader trend among the plaintiff's bar of fashioning novel and often strained theories from privacy laws such as the California Invasion of Privacy Act (CIPA) and federal Video Privacy Protection Act (VPPA).

Daniel's Law Explained

Daniel's Law, N.J. Stat. § 56:8-166.1, seeks to protect members of the New Jersey law enforcement and judicial communities by providing them the right to request that their home address and unpublished home phone number be removed from databases of various companies that may maintain, publish