Judicial Privacy Act
What it does, who it protects, and how to invoke it. Plain English.
Who it protects
Active, former, and deceased judicial officers in Illinois: US Supreme Court justices, US Court of Appeals judges, US District Court judges and magistrate judges, US Bankruptcy Court judges, Illinois Appellate Court judges, and Illinois Circuit Court judges and associate judges. It does not cover prosecutors, peace officers, or law enforcement generally.
What it does
Lets a judicial officer send a written request forcing removal of home address, phone numbers, personal email, SSN, financial account numbers, marital status, and information about minor children from the internet within 72 hours, or 5 business days for government agencies.
How to invoke it
Send a written request under 705 ILCS 90 to the person, business, or government agency publishing your personal information. State your status as a covered judicial officer, identify the exact information and where it appears, and demand removal. Nothing happens automatically, you have to send the request.
Enforcement reality
The statute sets hard removal deadlines, 72 hours for private parties and 5 business days for government agencies, but the search didn't turn up a confirmed private-right-of-action or damages figure for noncompliance. Treat that as unverified until confirmed.
What the Judicial Privacy Act actually does
If you're a judge in Illinois, this law gives you a way to force your home address and other personal details off the internet. It's codified at 705 ILCS 90 and took effect September 22, 2012, under P.A. 97-847.
The mechanism is simple. You send a written request. The person or business publishing your information then has 72 hours to take it down, stop republishing it, and stop selling it to anyone else. Government agencies get a little more time, 5 business days, to pull your personal information from anything publicly available.
One thing matters more than any of that: nothing happens until you send the request. This law is not self-executing. No request, no clock, no obligation on the other side.
Who it covers, and who it doesn't
This is where Illinois judges need to pay close attention. The law calls you a "judicial officer" if you're one of the following, active, former, or deceased:
- Justice of the United States Supreme Court
- Judge of the United States Court of Appeals
- Judge or magistrate judge of a United States District Court
- Judge of the United States Bankruptcy Court
- Judge of the Illinois Appellate Court
- Judge or associate judge of an Illinois Circuit Court
That's the whole list. Be honest with yourself about what's missing: prosecutors and peace officers are not on it. If you're a state's attorney, an assistant state's attorney, or a sworn officer in Illinois, this statute does not apply to you. That's a real difference from Daniel's Law in New Jersey, which covers judges, prosecutors, and law enforcement together. Illinois split them apart. Judges get this tool. Everyone else on the job in Illinois needs a different lever, and right now the state hasn't built one that reaches that broad.
What information is covered
The statute protects a specific list, not a general privacy right:
- Home address
- Home phone number
- Mobile or cell phone number
- Pager number
- Personal email address
- Social Security number
- Federal tax identification number
- Checking and savings account numbers
- Credit card numbers
- Marital status
- Identity of children under 18
If a broker or a public-facing database is showing any of that, it falls under the statute. If it's just your courtroom, your docket, or your published opinions, that's not what this law touches.
How to use it
- Confirm you're a covered judicial officer. Check the list above. If you're a prosecutor or a peace officer, this statute won't get you anywhere, look at other Illinois or federal options instead.
- Find the listing. Get the exact page and URL showing your protected information. A free scan will surface the broker sites carrying it.
- Write the request. Cite 705 ILCS 90. State that you're a covered judicial officer. List exactly what's showing and where.
- Send it in writing. Email if there's a privacy contact, certified mail if you want proof of delivery.
- Track the clock. 72 hours for private parties and businesses. 5 business days for government agencies. Save the send date so you know when the deadline passes.
- Check compliance. Screenshot the listing after the deadline. If it's still up, that's your evidence for the next step.
Where the record is thin
Illinois built firm removal deadlines into this law, but the public record doesn't confirm what happens if a broker just ignores the deadline, no confirmed dollar figure for damages, no confirmed private right of action we could verify. Don't assume this works like Daniel's Law with a set per-violation payout. If you're a judge weighing whether to escalate past a written request, talk to counsel before you file anything, the enforcement path here needs more digging.
What we do here
We send Judicial Privacy Act requests for covered Illinois judges and track every response against the 72-hour and 5-business-day clocks. If a broker re-lists you later, we catch it and send again. That's part of the Frontline Privacy plan for individual covered persons.
If you're a prosecutor or peace officer in Illinois reading this hoping it covers you, it doesn't. See /states/illinois for what other protections might apply to your situation.