Daniel Anderl Judicial Security and Privacy Act
What it does, who it protects, and how to invoke it. Plain English.
Who it protects
Federal judges (Article III judges, federal magistrate judges, federal bankruptcy judges) and their immediate family members.
What it does
Lets covered federal judges demand that data brokers and government agencies remove their personal information, with a civil cause of action if a broker or agency refuses.
How to invoke it
Covered judges file removal requests through the Administrative Office of the US Courts (AOUSC) or directly with each broker. The AOUSC sends batched filings for judges who opt in. Private counsel can also file independently.
Enforcement reality
Enforcement runs through a private civil cause of action: a covered judge whose valid removal request is ignored can sue the data broker or agency in federal court to compel removal. Centralized intake runs through the AOUSC's Threat Management Branch, which sends demands on enrolled judges' behalf, and the statute gives recipients 72 hours to comply. The removal right is newer and less litigated than New Jersey's Daniel's Law.
What the Daniel Anderl Act does
The Daniel Anderl Judicial Security and Privacy Act, sponsored by Representative Mikie Sherrill (D-NJ) in the House and Senators Bob Menendez and Cory Booker (D-NJ) in the Senate, became federal law in December 2022 as part of the FY2023 National Defense Authorization Act (Pub. L. 117-263). It is the federal version of New Jersey's Daniel's Law.
It gives federal judges and their immediate families a way to demand removal of their personal information from data brokers, government websites, and other public sources. The covered information is broad: home address, phone number, Social Security number, vehicle registration, the names of family members, and the names and addresses of a child's school or employer.
The law is named for Daniel Anderl, the 20-year-old son of US District Judge Esther Salas. In 2020, a man who had found the family's home address online came to the door and opened fire, killing Daniel and wounding his father.
Who it covers
Coverage is limited to federal judges and their immediate families:
- Article III judges (US District Court, Court of Appeals, Supreme Court)
- Senior judges
- Federal magistrate judges
- Federal bankruptcy judges
- Spouses, parents, and children of any of the above
The act does not cover state court judges, state-level prosecutors, or local law enforcement. Those officials rely on state statutes instead, such as Daniel's Law in New Jersey and the Judicial Privacy Act in Illinois.
How to invoke
The Administrative Office of the US Courts (AOUSC) runs a central intake through its Threat Management Branch. Eligible judges enroll once, and the branch sends removal demands to the major data brokers on the judge's behalf. Under the statute, a broker or agency that receives a valid request has 72 hours to take the information down.
Judges who want to file on their own, or add to the AOUSC list, can send written demands directly to brokers and agencies. If a broker or agency does not comply, a covered judge can bring a civil action to force removal.
Judges who live in states with their own statutes (New Jersey, New York, Illinois, and others) can file under both the federal and state programs. Filing under both widens coverage.
How it's used
To carry out the broker takedowns, the AOUSC provides enrolled judges a commercial monitoring-and-removal service. Program and vendor materials name DeleteMe as one such service, though the AOUSC has not published the terms of any exclusive contract, so treat the specific vendor as one example rather than a confirmed sole provider. Current enrollment and removal counts come from AOUSC reporting; confirm the latest figures with the AOUSC before relying on a specific number.
Where it doesn't reach
The Daniel Anderl Act is a federal statute focused on the federal judiciary. It does not reach:
- Non-judicial officials. Federal agents (FBI, DEA, US Marshals, ATF, HSI) and assistant US attorneys are not covered. Their agencies may help, but none of them can personally sue a broker the way a covered judge can. In the 2020 Portland federal-officer doxxing case, at least 38 federal officers had their personal information posted publicly, and the removal right created by this act did not apply to them.
- State officials. State court judges, district attorneys, attorneys general, sheriffs, and local police are governed by whatever state law applies where they work.
- Property records and court filings. The act covers personal information in broker files. It does not reach the underlying property records or court filings that brokers scrape from.
What we do
For a federal judge already enrolled in the AOUSC program, we work alongside the federal pipeline. We scan the major data broker and people-search sites, including smaller ones the federal program does not always reach, and we keep re-checking because brokers tend to repost information after a takedown. If you are an Article III, magistrate, or bankruptcy judge who wants added coverage on top of your AOUSC enrollment, that is what we provide. The plan also covers spouses and minor children. See broker-side coverage for federal judges and their families.