Wis. Stat. § 757.07 — WI Code / Chapter 757 / Section 757.07
Privacy protections for judicial officers.
Status: in_force

(1) Definitions. In this section:

(a) “Data broker” means a commercial entity that collects, assembles, or maintains personal information concerning an individual who is not a customer or an employee of that entity in order to sell the information or provide 3rd-party access to the information. “Data broker” does not include any of the following:

1. A commercial entity using personal information internally, providing access to businesses under common ownership or affiliated by corporate control, or selling or providing data for a transaction or service requested by or concerning the individual whose personal information is being transferred.

2. A commercial entity providing publicly available information through real-time or near real-time alert services for health or safety purposes.

3. A commercial entity using information that is lawfully made available through federal, state, or local government records, or information that a business has a reasonable basis to believe is lawfully made available to the general public through widely distributed media, by the consumer, or by a person to whom the consumer has disclosed the information, unless the consumer has restricted the information to a specific audience.

4. A commercial entity engaged in the collection, maintenance, disclosure, sale, communication, or use of any personal information bearing on a consumer’s credit worthiness, credit standing, credit capacity, character, general reputation, personal characteristics, or mode of living by a consumer reporting agency, furnisher, or user that provides information for use in a consumer report, and by a user of a consumer report, but only to the extent that such activity is regulated by and authorized under the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act, 15 USC 1681 , et seq.

5. A consumer reporting agency subject to the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act, 15 USC 1681 , et seq.

6. A commercial entity using personal information collected, processed, sold, or disclosed in compliance with the federal Driver’s Privacy Protection Act of 1994, 18 USC 2721 , et seq.

7. A commercial entity using personal information to do any of the following:

a. Prevent, detect, protect against, or respond to security incidents, identity theft, fraud, harassment, malicious or deceptive activities, or any illegal activity.

b. Preserve the integrity or security of systems.

c. Investigate, report, or prosecute any person responsible for an action described under subd. 7. a. or b.

8. A financial institution, affiliate of a financial institution, or data subject to title V of the federal Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, 15 USC 6801 , et seq.

9. A covered entity for purposes of the federal privacy regulations promulgated under the federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, specifically 42 USC 1320d-2 note.

10. A commercial entity engaging in the collection and sale or licensing of personal information incidental to conducting the activities described in subds. 1. to 9.

11. Insurance and insurance support organizations.

12. Law enforcement agencies or law enforcement support organizations and vendors that provide data support services to law enforcement agencies. For purposes of this subdivision, law enforcement support organizations does not include charitable organizations.

(am) “Designated officer” means an officer or employee of a government agency in a position designated in writing by the government agency to fulfill its duties under this section. In the absence of a written designation, “designated officer” means the highest ranking officer or employee for the government agency.

(b) “Government agency” includes any association, authority, board, department, commission, independent agency, institution, office, society, or other body corporate and politic in state or local government created or authorized to be created by the constitution or any law.

(c) “Home address” includes a judicial officer’s permanent residence and any secondary residences affirmatively identified by the judicial officer. “Home address” does not include a judicial officer’s work address.

(d) “Immediate family” includes any of the following:

1. A judicial officer’s spouse.

2. A minor child of the judicial officer or of the judicial officer’s spouse, including a foster child, or an adult child of the judicial officer or of the judicial officer’s spouse whose permanent residence is with the judicial officer.

3. A parent of the judicial officer or the judicial officer’s spouse.

4. Any other person who resides at the judicial officer’s residence.

(e) “Judicial officer” means a person who currently is or who formerly was any of the following:

1. A supreme court justice.

2. A court of appeals judge.

3. A circuit court judge.

4. A municipal judge.

5. A tribal judge.

6. A temporary or permanent reserve judge.

7. A circuit, supplemental, or municipal court commissioner.

(f) “Permanent residence” means the place where a person’s habitation is fixed, without any present intent to move, and to which, when absent, the person intends to return.

(g)

1. “Personal information” means any of the following with regard to a judicial officer or any immediate family member of a judicial officer, but does not include information regarding employment with a government agency:

a. A home address, when directly associated with or displayed with a judicial officer’s name.

b. A home or personal mobile telephone number.

c. A personal email address.

d. A social security number, driver’s license number, federal tax identification number, or state tax identification number.

e. Except as required under ch. 11 , a bank account or credit or debit card information.

f. A license plate number or other unique identifiers of a vehicle owned, leased, or regularly used by a judicial officer or an immediate family member of a judicial officer.

g. The names of children under the age of 18 of a judicial officer or an immediate family member of a judicial officer.

h. The full date of birth.

i. Marital status.

2m. “Personal information” does not include addresses without owner or occupant names associated with the address on public-facing land records websites for address verification, including for utilities and emergency services.

(h) “Publicly available content” means any written, printed, or electronic document or record that provides information or that serves as a document or record maintained, controlled, or in the possession of a government agency that may be obtained by any person or entity, from the Internet, from the government agency upon request either free of charge or for a fee, or in response to a public records request under ch. 19 .

(i) “Publicly post or display” means to intentionally communicate or otherwise make available to the general public.

(im) “Secondary residence” means a place that is not a person’s permanent residence, but where a person regularly lives for at least 14 days each year.

(j) “Transfer” means to sell, license, trade, or exchange for consideration the personal information of a judicial officer or a judicial officer’s immediate family member.

(k) “Written request” means written notice signed by a judicial officer or a representative of the judicial officer’s employer requesting a government agency, business, association, or other person to refrain from publicly posting or displaying publicly available content that includes the personal information of the judicial officer or judicial officer’s immediate family completed and filed pursuant to sub. (4) .

(2) Publicly posting or displaying a judicial officer’s personal information by a government agency.

(a) A government agency may not publicly post or display publicly available content that includes a judicial officer’s personal information, provided that the government agency has received a written request in accordance with sub. (4) that it refrain from disclosing the judicial officer’s personal information. After a government agency has received a written request, that agency shall remove the judicial officer’s personal information from publicly available content within 10 business days. After the government agency has removed the judicial officer’s personal information from publicly available content, the agency may not publicly post or display the information, and the judicial officer’s personal information shall be exempt from inspection and copying under s. 19.35 unless the government agency has received consent as provided under sub. (4) (e) to make the personal information available to the public.

(b) Nothing in this subsection prohibits a government agency from providing access to records containing the personal information of a judicial officer to a 3rd party if the 3rd party meets any of the following criteria:

1. Possesses a signed consent document, as provided under sub. (4) (e) .

2. Is subject to the requirements of 15 USC 6801 , et seq.

3. Executes a confidentiality agreement with the government agency.

(3) Data brokers and other persons and businesses.

(a) No data broker may knowingly sell, license, trade, purchase, or otherwise make available for consideration the personal information of a judicial officer or a judicial officer’s immediate family, provided that the judicial officer has made a written request to the data broker. The data broker shall cease knowingly selling, licensing, trading, purchasing, or otherwise making available personal information for consideration pursuant to the written request within 10 business days of the written request.