N.Y. Judiciary Law § 859: New York state judicial security act

§ 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.