Privacy in Massachusetts for first responders
What state law protects, what still leaks, and what we sweep beyond it.
M.G.L. c.9A ACP (broad), c.66 §10 personnel, c.90 §30 RMV, c.51 voter.
Massachusetts Address Confidentiality Program
Massachusetts maintains a state-level program that lets eligible officers, judges, and other protected workers use a substitute address for public records.
Apply or learn more →Public-records carve-outs
- M.G.L. Chapter 4 §7 cl. 26(o) and (p): the Public Records Law exemption keeps the home address, personal email, and home telephone of government employees, which includes police, firefighters, EMTs, and corrections officers, and their family members, out of records released in response to a public-records request.
- M.G.L. Chapter 6 §172: CORI (Criminal Offender Record Information) rules limit who can access criminal-record data and for what purpose.
- M.G.L. Chapter 265 §43: the criminal stalking statute, which can apply when someone uses your personal information as part of a pattern of conduct meant to threaten or frighten you.
- M.G.L. Chapter 51 §§4, 21, 44 / 950 CMR 49.00: confidential voter registration, available with a court order, proof of shelter residence, or a police chief affidavit.
Applicable laws
What protects you in Massachusetts
Two state protections do most of the work for sworn personnel.
The Public Records Law exemption (M.G.L. Chapter 4 §7, clause 26, subclauses (o) and (p)) keeps your home address, personal email, and home telephone out of records an agency releases in response to a public-records request. It covers government employees, which includes police, firefighters, EMTs, and corrections officers, and subclause (p) extends the same shield to your family members. The limit: it applies only to records an agency holds. It does nothing about the same information once a data broker has collected it from other sources.
The Massachusetts Address Confidentiality Program, run by the Secretary of the Commonwealth, gives you a substitute address to use with state and local agencies. It is built for survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault, and stalking, and since 2022 it also covers people who provide or facilitate reproductive and gender-affirming healthcare. Being a police officer, firefighter, or EMT does not by itself qualify you.
Where Massachusetts leaves your address exposed
Massachusetts has no broker-removal statute. There is no state version of New Jersey's Daniel's Law, the law that lets covered officers demand data brokers take down their home address and sue if a broker refuses. Bills have been filed in Massachusetts, but none has passed, so a Massachusetts officer cannot make that demand under state law. Federal judges who sit in Massachusetts can use the Lieu Act; state and local personnel cannot.
Several public sources stay open:
- Registry of Deeds records. County registries, including Suffolk, Middlesex, Norfolk, and Plymouth, publish property records online. If your name is on a deed or mortgage, brokers can copy the address from there.
- Court records. The Massachusetts Trial Court publishes dockets and many filings online. A civil suit, divorce, or traffic matter can show your address unless it was redacted when the case was filed.
- Motor vehicle records. The federal Driver's Privacy Protection Act limits when the RMV can release your license and registration data, but it allows several exceptions, and brokers obtain driver data through those permitted channels.
- Out-of-state and commercial brokers. Sites like Spokeo, Whitepages, and BeenVerified buy from national aggregators and are not bound by Massachusetts public-records rules.
A property record or court filing ties your name to a specific home, and to the people who live there with you. That is the exposure these gaps create.
Laws you can use here
- Public Records Law exemption (M.G.L. Chapter 4 §7 cl. 26(o) and (p)): requires an agency to withhold your home address, personal email, and home telephone, and your family's, before it releases records to a requester.
- Confidential voter registration (M.G.L. Chapter 51 §§4, 21, 44; 950 CMR 49.00): lets you keep your name and address off the public voter list if you provide a court order, proof of shelter residence, or an affidavit from your police chief.
- Stalking (M.G.L. Chapter 265 §43): a criminal statute that can apply when someone uses your personal information as part of a pattern of conduct meant to threaten or frighten you.
- Address Confidentiality Program: a substitute-address program through the Secretary of the Commonwealth for survivors of qualifying offenses and, since 2022, certain healthcare workers. Officers are not categorically eligible.
What we handle that the state does not
The public-records exemption closes the agency channel. It does nothing about the brokers that already have your address. That is the part we work on. We scan the major people-search and data-broker sites, file opt-outs where you appear, and keep checking, because removed listings often come back when a broker refreshes its data. New property and court filings are the events most likely to trigger a fresh listing, so we watch for you reappearing and refile when you do. When a site needs something only you can provide, we tell you exactly what it needs and why.
Run a free scan to see where your address is exposed in Massachusetts.