N.Y. JUD Law § 859 — New York Code / Act JUD / Article 22-C / Section 859
New York state judicial security act
Status: in_force

§ 859. New York state judicial security act. 1. Definitions. As used\nin this article:\n  (a) "Eligible individual" shall mean an actively employed or former:\n  (i) judge or justice of the unified court system or judge of the\nhousing part of the civil court of the city of New York; or\n  (ii) a federal judge, which shall include a federal judge or a senior,\nrecalled, or retired federal judge sitting or maintaining chambers in\nNew York, where such federal judge means:\n  (A) a justice of the United States or a judge of the United States, as\nthose terms are defined in section 451 of title 28, United States Code;\n  (B) a bankruptcy judge appointed under section 152 of title 28, United\nStates Code;\n  (C) a United States magistrate judge appointed under section 631 of\ntitle 28, United States Code;\n  (D) a judge confirmed by the United States Senate and empowered by\nstatute in any commonwealth, territory, or possession to perform the\nduties of a federal judge;\n  (E) a judge of the United States Court of Federal Claims appointed\nunder section 171 of title 28, United States Code;\n  (F) a judge of the United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims\nappointed under section 7253 of title 38, United States Code;\n  (G) a judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces\nappointed under section 942 of title 10, United States Code;\n  (H) a judge of the United States Tax Court appointed under section\n7443 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986; or\n  (I) a special trial judge of the United States Tax Court appointed\nunder section 7443A of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986.\n  (b) "Immediate family" shall mean, for each eligible individual, the\nspouse, former spouse, parent, child, and sibling.\n  (c) "Personal information" shall include the following for an eligible\nindividual and, if such individual so indicates as provided in\nsubparagraph (ii) of paragraph (a) of subdivision two of this section,\nfor the members of their immediate family: (i) home address, including\nprimary residence and secondary residences; (ii) unlisted telephone\nnumber; (iii) personal cell phone number; (iv) personal email address;\n(v) social security number; (vi) driver's license number; (vii) license\nplate number; (viii) marital status and identity of any present and\nformer spouse; (ix) identity of children under the age of eighteen; (x)\nname and address of a school or day care facility attended by an\nimmediate family member; (xi) bank account number; (xii) credit or debit\ncard number; and (xiii) personal identification number (PIN).\n  (d) "Cease making public the personal information" of an identified\nperson shall mean deleting, redacting or otherwise removing any existing\nposting on the internet and any display or publication in any medium\naccessible to the public containing such personal information and\nceasing the sharing, trading, or transferring of such personal\ninformation with others, as is specified in the written request of the\neligible individual on whose behalf the notification is made.\n  (e) "Excluded entity" means a commercial entity engaged in the\nfollowing activity:\n  (i) reporting, news-gathering, speaking, or other activity intended to\ninform the public on matters of public interest or public concern;\n  (ii) using personal information internally, providing access to\nbusinesses under common ownership or affiliated by corporate control, or\nselling or providing data for transaction or service requested by or\nconcerning the individual whose personal information is being\ntransferred;\n  (iii) providing publicly available information via real-time or near\nreal-time alert services for health or safety purposes;\n  (iv) any activity where the commercial entity is a consumer reporting\nagency subject to the Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. 1681, et\nseq.);\n  (v) any activity where the commercial entity is a financial\ninstitution subject to the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (Public Law 106-102)\nand regulations implementing that Act;\n  (vi) providing 411 directory assistance or directory information\nservices, including name, address, and telephone number, on behalf of or\nas a function of a telecommunications carrier;\n  (vii) any activity where the commercial entity is subject to the\nprivacy regulations promulgated under section 264(c) of the Health\nInsurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (42 U.S.C. 1320-d\nnote); and\n  (viii) the collection and sale or licensing of personal information\nincidental to conducting the activities described in this paragraph.\n  (f) "Public agency" shall mean an agency of the state of New York and\nany of its political subdivisions.\n  2. Written request. (a) An eligible individual or their representative\nmay submit a written request to their employer or former employer. To be\nenforceable, a written request shall be signed by an eligible\nindividual, or their representative, and specify:\n  (i) those items of personal information that the eligible individual\nwishes to be kept from being made public;\n  (ii) the identity of members of the eligible individual's immediate\nfamily and whether, for purposes of the written request, their personal\ninformation should be deemed to include that of such immediate family\nmembers; and\n  (iii) each person, business, association, and public or private agency\nthat the eligible individual wishes to bar from making public the\npersonal information of such eligible individual.\n  (b) The employer may develop procedures to review and process written\nrequests.\n  (c) (i) If a written request has been properly submitted and is\ncomplete, the employer for an active or former judge or justice of the\nunified court system or active or former judge of the housing part of\nthe civil court of the city of New York, as appropriate, shall, within\nfive business days of receipt of such written request from an eligible\nindividual, notify each person, business, association, and public or\nprivate agency identified in the written request that (A) within\nseventy-two hours of receipt of such notification, that such person,\nbusiness, association, and public or private agency must cease making\npublic the personal information of the eligible individual identified in\nsuch request, and (B) they must make reasonable efforts to ensure that\nthe personal information of the eligible individual is not made\navailable on any website or subsidiary website controlled by that\nperson, business, or association. For purposes of this subparagraph,\nnotification shall be by certified mail, return receipt requested,\neither at the recipient's last known residence (if recipient is a\nperson) or at the recipient's principal office (which shall be the\nlocation at which the office of the chief executive officer of the\nrecipient is generally located).\n  (ii) If a written request has been properly submitted and is complete,\nthe employer of an active or former federal judge of a federal court\nestablished in New York may notify each person, business, association,\nand public or private agency identified in the written request that (A)\nwithin seventy-two hours of receipt of such notification, they must\ncease making public the personal information of the eligible individual\nidentified in such request, and (B) they must make reasonable efforts to\nensure that the personal information of the eligible individual is not\nmade available on any website or subsidiary website controlled by that\nperson, business, or association. For purposes of this subparagraph,\nnotification may be by certified mail, return receipt requested, either\nat the recipient's last known residence (if the recipient is a person)\nor at the recipient's principal office (which shall be the location at\nwhich the office of the chief executive officer of the recipient is\ngenerally located).\n  (iii) Notwithstanding any provision of this paragraph to the contrary,\nsubparagraphs (i) and (ii) of this paragraph shall not apply to:\n  (A) display of the personal information of an eligible individual if\nsuch information is relevant to and displayed as part of a news story,\ncommentary, editorial, or other speech on a matter of public concern;\n  (B) personal information that the eligible individual voluntarily\npublishes after the effective date of this section;\n  (C) personal information received from a public agency or from an\nagency of the federal government; and\n  (D) permissible uses of personal information pursuant to the Driver's\nPrivacy Protection Act (18 U.S.C. § 2721 et seq.), except that no\neligible individual making a written request under this article shall be\ndeemed to have given express consent to share personal information for\nthe purposes of 18 U.S.C. § 2721(b), unless the written request contains\nan express declaration to the contrary.\n  3. Recipient of notification not to make an eligible individual's\npersonal information public. After a person, business, association, or\npublic or private agency has received a notification pursuant to\nparagraph (c) of subdivision two of this section, they shall have\nseventy-two hours to cease making public the personal information of the\neligible individual identified in such notification.\n  4. (a) An eligible individual may seek an injunction or declaratory\nrelief in a court of competent jurisdiction against a person, business,\nassociation, or public or private agency that, after receiving a\nnotification pursuant to paragraph (c) of subdivision two of this\nsection, fails to timely comply with the requirements of such\nnotification. If the court grants such injunctive or declaratory relief,\nthe affected person, business, association, or agency shall be required\nto pay the eligible individual's costs and reasonable attorney's fees.\n  (b) Upon a violation of any order granting injunctive or declarative\nrelief obtained pursuant to this subdivision, the court issuing such\norder may: (i) where the violator is a public agency, impose a fine not\nexceeding one thousand dollars and require the payment of court costs\nand reasonable attorney's fees; or (ii) where the violator is a person,\nbusiness, association, or private agency, award damages to the affected\neligible individual in an amount up to a maximum of three times the\nactual damages, but not less than four thousand dollars, and require the\npayment of court costs and reasonable attorney's fees.\n  5. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, where the department of\nmotor vehicles receives a notification pursuant to paragraph (c) of\nsubdivision two of this section, such department shall comply therewith\nexcept that, where the notification requires the department to cease\nmaking a person's address public, the department may make their business\naddress public.\n