FRONTLINEPRIVACY

Privacy in Illinois for first responders

What state law protects, what still leaks, and what we sweep beyond it.

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Address Confidentiality Program

Illinois maintains a state-level program that lets eligible officers, judges, and other protected workers use a substitute address for public records.

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Public-records carve-outs

  • 5 ILCS 140/7(1)(b-5) (Freedom of Information Act) — personally identifying information of public employees including home address, home telephone, personal email, and information that could be used to identify family members is exempt from disclosure.
  • 5 ILCS 140/7.5(t) — police officer disciplinary records have specific privacy treatment under SAFE-T Act amendments.
  • 765 ILCS 165 (Judicial Privacy Act, 2023) — judges and immediate family members can demand removal of home address from data brokers and websites, with civil enforcement provisions.
  • 5 ILCS 347 (Public Official Safety and Privacy Act, Public Act 104-0443) — public officials can submit written demands to government agencies and data brokers; 72-hour compliance window with civil action for injunctive relief, costs, and attorney's fees.
  • 740 ILCS 148 (Civil Liability for Doxing Act) — civil cause of action for any person doxed; statutory remedies available to victims of malicious distribution of personal information.
  • 15 ILCS 335/4(a-10) — DMV record confidentiality for covered public officials and peace officers.

Applicable laws

What protects you in Illinois

Illinois's Freedom of Information Act exempts personally identifying information of public employees — home address, home telephone, personal email, and information that could identify family members — from public-records disclosure under 5 ILCS 140/7(1)(b-5). The agency must redact those fields before responding to a FOIA request.

The Judicial Privacy Act, passed in 2023 and codified at 765 ILCS 165, gives Illinois judges and their immediate families a strong tool: they can demand removal of their home address from data brokers and websites, with civil enforcement provisions. It's modeled on the federal Daniel Anderl Judicial Security Act and on Daniel's Law in NJ — the original broker-takedown statute, which lets covered officers sue brokers for failing to remove their home address.

The Public Official Safety and Privacy Act (5 ILCS 347, enacted as Public Act 104-0443) extends a similar broker-takedown mechanism to "public officials" more broadly. Covered officials submit a written demand and the recipient — agency, website, broker — has 72 hours to take the information down. Non-compliance opens the door to civil action for injunctive or declaratory relief, costs, and attorney's fees. The Civil Liability for Doxing Act (740 ILCS 148) layers on top, giving any doxed person — that means anyone whose personal info is published with intent to threaten or harass — grounds to sue.

The Anti-Doxing Act now does for sworn officers what the Judicial Privacy Act did for judges. The agency-side FOIA exemption already shielded personnel files; these 2024-2026 statutes finally close the broker side.

What still leaks

Three sources stay open in Illinois:

  1. Court records. Illinois publishes through county clerks and the AOIC. Cook County publishes detailed dockets and many counties publish full filings. Civil suits, divorce, traffic court — addresses appear unless redacted at filing time. Federal cases on PACER are entirely outside state protection.
  2. Property and tax records. County recorders and assessors publish online. Cook County's assessor publishes detailed property records. Brokers scrape from these directly.
  3. Out-of-state and commercial brokers. Spokeo, Whitepages, BeenVerified, and the rest source from out-of-state aggregators and don't honor Illinois law unless you fall under the Judicial Privacy Act.

Laws that work for you here

  • 5 ILCS 140/7(1)(b-5) — file with each agency that holds your records to ensure your home address and personal contact info are redacted before any FOIA release.
  • Public Official Safety and Privacy Act (5 ILCS 347) — covered public officials submit a written demand; recipients have 72 hours to remove. Civil action for injunctive relief, costs, and attorney's fees if they don't.
  • Judicial Privacy Act (765 ILCS 165) — if you're a judge or immediate family of a judge, the broker-takedown lever runs through here. Civil remedies if brokers don't comply.
  • Civil Liability for Doxing Act (740 ILCS 148) — anyone doxed in Illinois can sue the doxer directly.
  • 15 ILCS 335/4(a-10) — DMV confidentiality for peace officers and public officials.
  • Address Confidentiality Program — substitute-address program through the AG's office for victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, stalking, human trafficking. Officers are not separately eligible.

What we sweep that the state doesn't

The state has finally closed the broker side for sworn officers and other public officials through the 2024-2026 Public Official Safety and Privacy Act. We file the 5 ILCS 347 demands and track the 72-hour response window for covered officials. For judges, we use the §165 demands. For everyone else, we run standard opt-outs across 200+ people-search sites and re-check every two weeks. After any property transaction or court filing in Illinois, we re-check inside 30 days because that's when re-listings happen fastest.

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