* § 859. New York state judicial security act. 1. Definitions. As used
in this article:

(a) "Eligible individual" shall mean an actively employed or former:

(i) judge or justice of the unified court system or judge of the
housing part of the civil court of the city of New York; or

(ii) a federal judge, which shall include a federal judge or a senior,
recalled, or retired federal judge sitting or maintaining chambers in
New York, where such federal judge means:

(A) a justice of the United States or a judge of the United States, as
those terms are defined in section 451 of title 28, United States Code;

(B) a bankruptcy judge appointed under section 152 of title 28, United
States Code;

(C) a United States magistrate judge appointed under section 631 of
title 28, United States Code;

(D) a judge confirmed by the United States Senate and empowered by
statute in any commonwealth, territory, or possession to perform the
duties of a federal judge;

(E) a judge of the United States Court of Federal Claims appointed
under section 171 of title 28, United States Code;

(F) a judge of the United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims
appointed under section 7253 of title 38, United States Code;

(G) a judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces
appointed under section 942 of title 10, United States Code;

(H) a judge of the United States Tax Court appointed under section
7443 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986; or

(I) a special trial judge of the United States Tax Court appointed
under section 7443A of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986.

(b) "Immediate family" shall mean, for each eligible individual, the
spouse, former spouse, parent, child, and sibling.

(c) "Personal information" shall include the following for an eligible
individual and, if such individual so indicates as provided in
subparagraph (ii) of paragraph (a) of subdivision two of this section,
for the members of their immediate family: (i) home address, including
primary residence and secondary residences; (ii) unlisted telephone
number; (iii) personal cell phone number; (iv) personal email address;
(v) social security number; (vi) driver's license number; (vii) license
plate number; (viii) marital status and identity of any present and
former spouse; (ix) identity of children under the age of eighteen; (x)
name and address of a school or day care facility attended by an
immediate family member; (xi) bank account number; (xii) credit or debit
card number; and (xiii) personal identification number (PIN).

(d) "Cease making public the personal information" of an identified
person shall mean deleting, redacting or otherwise removing any existing
posting on the internet and any display or publication in any medium
accessible to the public containing such personal information and
ceasing the sharing, trading, or transferring of such personal
information with others, as is specified in the written request of the
eligible individual on whose behalf the notification is made.

(e) "Excluded entity" means a commercial entity engaged in the
following activity:

(i) reporting, news-gathering, speaking, or other activity intended to
inform the public on matters of public interest or public concern;

(ii) using personal information internally, providing access to
businesses under common ownership or affiliated by corporate control, or
selling or providing data for transaction or service requested by or
concerning the individual whose personal information is being
transferred;

(iii) providing publicly available information via real-time or near
real-time alert services for health or safety purposes;

(iv) any activity where the commercial entity is a consumer reporting
agency subject to the Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. 1681, et
seq.);

(v) any activity where the commercial entity is a financial
institution subject to the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (Public Law 106-102)
and regulations implementing that Act;

(vi) providing 411 directory assistance or directory information
services, including name, address, and telephone number, on behalf of or
as a function of a telecommunications carrier;

(vii) any activity where the commercial entity is subject to the
privacy regulations promulgated under section 264(c) of the Health
Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (42 U.S.C. 1320-d
note); and

(viii) the collection and sale or licensing of personal information
incidental to conducting the activities described in this paragraph.

(f) "Public agency" shall mean an agency of the state of New York and
any of its political subdivisions.

2. Written request. (a) An eligible individual or their representative
may submit a written request to their employer or former employer. To be
enforceable, a written request shall be signed by an eligible
individual, or their representative, and specify:

(i) those items of personal information that the eligible individual
wishes to be kept from being made public;

(ii) the identity of members of the eligible individual's immediate
family and whether, for purposes of the written request, their personal
information should be deemed to include that of such immediate family
members; and

(iii) each person, business, association, and public or private agency
that the eligible individual wishes to bar from making public the
personal information of such eligible individual.

(b) The employer may develop procedures to review and process written
requests.

(c) (i) If a written request has been properly submitted and is
complete, the employer for an active or former judge or justice of the
unified court system or active or former judge of the housing part of
the civil court of the city of New York, as appropriate, shall, within
five business days of receipt of such written request from an eligible
individual, notify each person, business, association, and public or
private agency identified in the written request that (A) within
seventy-two hours of receipt of such notification, that such person,
business, association, and public or private agency must cease making
public the personal information of the eligible individual identified in
such request, and (B) they must make reasonable efforts to ensure that
the personal information of the eligible individual is not made
available on any website or subsidiary website controlled by that
person, business, or association. For purposes of this subparagraph,
notification shall be by certified mail, return receipt requested,
either at the recipient's last known residence (if recipient is a
person) or at the recipient's principal office (which shall be the
location at which the office of the chief executive officer of the
recipient is generally located).

(ii) If a written request has been properly submitted and is complete,
the employer of an active or former federal judge of a federal court
established in New York may notify each person, business, association,
and public or private agency identified in the written request that (A)
within seventy-two hours of receipt of such notification, they must
cease making public the personal information of the eligible individual
identified in such request, and (B) they must make reasonable efforts to
ensure that the personal information of the eligible individual is not
made available on any website or subsidiary website controlled by that
person, business, or association. For purposes of this subparagraph,
notification may be by certified mail, return receipt requested, either
at the recipient's last known residence (if the recipient is a person)
or at the recipient's principal office (which shall be the location at
which the office of the chief executive officer of the recipient is
generally located).

(iii) Notwithstanding any provision of this paragraph to the contrary,
subparagraphs (i) and (ii) of this paragraph shall not apply to:

(A) display of the personal information of an eligible individual if
such information is relevant to and displayed as part of a news story,
commentary, editorial, or other speech on a matter of public concern;

(B) personal information that the eligible individual voluntarily
publishes after the effective date of this section;

(C) personal information received from a public agency or from an
agency of the federal government; and

(D) permissible uses of personal information pursuant to the Driver's
Privacy Protection Act (18 U.S.C. § 2721 et seq.), except that no
eligible individual making a written request under this article shall be
deemed to have given express consent to share personal information for
the purposes of 18 U.S.C. § 2721(b), unless the written request contains
an express declaration to the contrary.

3. Recipient of notification not to make an eligible individual's
personal information public. After a person, business, association, or
public or private agency has received a notification pursuant to
paragraph (c) of subdivision two of this section, they shall have
seventy-two hours to cease making public the personal information of the
eligible individual identified in such notification.

4. (a) An eligible individual may seek an injunction or declaratory
relief in a court of competent jurisdiction against a person, business,
association, or public or private agency that, after receiving a
notification pursuant to paragraph (c) of subdivision two of this
section, fails to timely comply with the requirements of such
notification. If the court grants such injunctive or declaratory relief,
the affected person, business, association, or agency shall be required
to pay the eligible individual's costs and reasonable attorney's fees.

(b) Upon a violation of any order granting injunctive or declarative
relief obtained pursuant to this subdivision, the court issuing such
order may: (i) where the violator is a public agency, impose a fine not
exceeding one thousand dollars and require the payment of court costs
and reasonable attorney's fees; or (ii) where the violator is a person,
business, association, or private agency, award damages to the affected
eligible individual in an amount up to a maximum of three times the
actual damages, but not less than four thousand dollars, and require the
payment of court costs and reasonable attorney's fees.

5. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, where the department of
motor vehicles receives a notification pursuant to paragraph (c) of
subdivision two of this section, such department shall comply therewith
except that, where the notification requires the department to cease
making a person's address public, the department may make their business
address public.

* NB Effective July 19, 2024