Privacy in Montana for first responders

What protects you in Montana

Montana gives you a few real tools. None of them reach the data-broker sites directly, so it helps to know what each one does and where it stops.

Public-records safety exception. Mont. Code Ann. §2-6-1003 lets the government office holding a record withhold information when releasing it would jeopardize someone's safety. It is the custodian's decision, not an automatic election. Ask the agency that holds your information to apply it, and explain the specific risk to you or your family. The exception is written around safety generally, so cops, firefighters, and EMS can qualify when the threat is real.

Property records. The Montana Department of Revenue lets you request that your name not be shown on its public property lookup tools, the My Property and Cadastral sites, when display threatens your safety. File Form AB-NonDisc for each property you own, with documentation of the risk. Your ownership stays in the state database. It just stops showing your name on the public-facing search.

Address Confidentiality Program. Montana's ACP gives you a substitute address to use with state and local agencies, plus confidential mail forwarding through the Montana DOJ Office of Victim Services. Eligibility is tied to being a victim of stalking, partner or family assault, sexual assault, or human trafficking, or being eligible for an order of protection. An officer who has been stalked or threatened may qualify. It is not automatic for everyone on the job.

Consumer data privacy rights. The Montana Consumer Data Privacy Act (Mont. Code Ann. §30-14-2801 et seq.) took effect October 1, 2024. It gives Montana residents the right to have a covered business delete their personal data and stop selling it. The coverage thresholds are the lowest of any state privacy law, so large people-search and data-broker sites that handle enough Montanans can be required to honor a deletion or opt-out request. There is no state portal or broker registry, so you send the request to each company, and it has 45 days to respond. The Montana Attorney General enforces the law, and there is no private lawsuit if a company ignores you.

SB 282 (2025). Montana became the first state to bar its own government from buying broker-aggregated personal data without a warrant. See EFF's writeup. It closes one channel that police and agencies used to buy location and profile data. It does not give you a way to make a broker take your listing down, and it does not reach sites like Spokeo or Whitepages.

What still leaks

1. DMV records. Montana has no state confidentiality election for officers at the DMV. The federal Driver's Privacy Protection Act is the only floor, and it limits who can pull your record rather than removing it.
2. Voter rolls. Montana voter registration data is available to the public, and there is no officer confidentiality designation in the file.
3. Data-broker and people-search sites. Spokeo, Whitepages, BeenVerified, and similar sites pull from national aggregators. The Montana Consumer Data Privacy Act gives you a deletion and opt-out right that can reach the larger ones, but there is no state portal, no broker registry, and no private lawsuit, so you have to send and track a request to each site yourself.

Laws that work for you here

• Mont. Code Ann. §2-6-1003: ask each agency holding your information to withhold records whose release would threaten you or a household member.
• Mont. Code Ann. §40-15-118 (ACP): substitute-address program through the Montana DOJ for qualifying victims of stalking, assault, or trafficking.
• Form AB-NonDisc: file with the Montana Department of Revenue to keep your name off its public property lookup tools.
• Montana Consumer Data Privacy Act (Mont. Code Ann. §30-14-2801 et seq.): require covered businesses, which can include large broker sites, to delete your personal data and stop selling it. You send the request to each company; the Attorney General enforces it.
• SB 282 (2025): bars Montana government from buying broker data on residents without a warrant. It does not remove you from broker sites.
• Driver's Privacy Protection Act (federal): limits who can pull your motor-vehicle record.

What we do that Montana law doesn't

Montana's tools protect specific government channels. The data brokers are not bound by them, and that is where your home address, phone number, and relatives usually show up. We scan the people-search and data-broker sites for your information, file opt-out and removal requests on the listings we find, and keep checking, because records often come back. When a site needs something from you to process a removal, we tell you clearly. Run a free scan to see what's exposed today.