Privacy in South Carolina for first responders

What protects you in South Carolina

South Carolina's main protection is the Law Enforcement Personal Privacy Protection Act at S.C. Code Ann. §30-2-510, with a matching Judicial Personal Privacy Protection Act at §30-2-710. Both took effect January 1, 2026, after being amended by S.126 (Act No. 4 of 2025), which delayed the start date and set up the request process. If you are an active or former certified officer, corrections officer, or judge, you can require any state or local government website to restrict your home address, personal cell number, and property tax map number.

Here is how you use it. Complete the request form created by the Office of Court Administration and the South Carolina Criminal Justice Academy, sign a notarized affidavit confirming your service, and submit it to each agency that publishes your information. Once your form is on file, the agency has to restrict those fields on its public site.

The state also runs an Address Confidentiality Program under S.C. Code Ann. §16-25-130, administered by the Attorney General. It gives victims of domestic violence, stalking, harassment, human trafficking, or sexual offenses a substitute mailing address for use with state and local government agencies. It is not officer-specific, and it cannot delete records that are already public. Worth knowing if your situation qualifies.

Federal law covers the DMV. The Driver's Privacy Protection Act limits when a state can release the personal information in your motor vehicle record, so your DMV file is not a general commercial data source. It does not reach the broker sites.

What still leaks

1. County property records. LEPPPA restricts your property tax map number on government sites, but the deeds, tax appraisals, and mortgage filings recorded with county registers of deeds are a separate public record. Brokers scrape them for your address.
2. Voter rolls. LEPPPA does not reach your voter registration record. Commercial brokers who buy state voter data can use it to find your address.
3. Data brokers. South Carolina has no statute that compels commercial data brokers to delete your information — LEPPPA binds only state and local government websites. Spokeo, Whitepages, BeenVerified, and similar sites pull from out-of-state aggregators and commercial feeds and keep publishing your address regardless of what South Carolina agencies do.

Laws that work for you here

• S.C. Code Ann. §30-2-510 (LEPPPA): the core protection. File a notarized request form with each agency that holds your records. Active and former certified officers and corrections officers qualify.
• S.C. Code Ann. §30-2-710: the judicial version for active and former judges, amended by S.126 (Act No. 4 of 2025). Same form-and-file process.
• S.C. Code Ann. §16-25-130 (ACP): a substitute-address program for victims of domestic violence, stalking, and similar crimes. Not officer-specific, but useful if your situation qualifies.

What we handle that the state form doesn't

The state form covers government websites. It does not touch the brokers. That part is our job.

We file opt-outs across the people-search sites that publish your home address regardless of state law, and we keep checking, because listings come back. The state form handles the South Carolina agency layer. The broker layer is what shows up when someone searches your name, and that is where we work.

See what a data broker shows about you. Run a free scan.