Daniel Anderl Act: Federal Judges' Addresses Still Exposed Online

• A new report reveals that home addresses for all 100 targeted federal judges are easily found online, despite a federal security law.
• Many of these judges were enrolled in a judiciary program designed to scrub their personal information from public sources.
• The Daniel Anderl Judicial Security and Privacy Act is failing to protect judges, especially when compared to a more effective New Jersey state law.
• The New Jersey law allows private lawsuits against data brokers to force the removal of personal information, a mechanism absent from the federal act.
• The federal law was enacted following the July 2020 attack on U.S. District Judge Esther Salas's family, which resulted in her son Daniel Anderl's death.

The report unequivocally concludes that the Daniel Anderl Judicial Security and Privacy Act, a federal law enacted to protect judges, is currently failing to achieve its intended purpose, leaving these high-profile individuals vulnerable to escalating threats.

Despite legislative efforts to safeguard their personal information, the home addresses of federal judges are readily discoverable online, according to a new report. Released on September 1, 2026, the study, co-authored by Matthew Adkisson, founder and president of Atlas Data Privacy Corp., and John Muffler, a former chief inspector for the U.S. Marshals Service, targeted 100 federal judges and successfully located the residential details for every single one.

This pervasive availability of federal judges personal data online persists even for many jurists enrolled in the judiciary's vulnerability management program, an initiative specifically designed to remove their sensitive information from public sources. The report unequivocally concludes that the Daniel Anderl Judicial Security and Privacy Act, a federal law enacted to protect judges, is currently failing to achieve its intended purpose, leaving these high-profile individuals vulnerable to escalating threats.

The Daniel Anderl Judicial Security and Privacy Act was established in response to a tragic event that underscored the critical need for enhanced judicial security. In July 2020, U.S. District Judge Esther Salas experienced a violent attack at her North Brunswick, New Jersey, home. A man disguised as a delivery person opened fire at her front door.

The assault resulted in the death of Judge Salas's son, Daniel Anderl, and left her husband, defense attorney Mark Anderl, injured. This devastating incident brought the issue of judicial security law failure and the protection of judges' families into sharp national focus, directly leading to the creation of the federal legislation intended to prevent similar tragedies.

The report highlights the ineffectiveness of the federal Daniel Anderl Act by drawing a stark comparison with a similar New Jersey judicial privacy law. While both laws aim to protect judges and other public officials, the New Jersey statute includes a crucial provision that empowers individuals to initiate private lawsuits against data brokers to compel the removal of their personal information.

This mechanism, as reported by Bloomberg Law, provides a more robust enforcement tool that appears to be lacking in the federal framework. The absence of such direct legal recourse against data brokers judges information online contributes significantly to the federal law's perceived failure in adequately shielding judges' home addresses and other sensitive data.

The continued online availability of federal judges' addresses, despite the existence of a dedicated judicial security law, underscores a significant and ongoing security concern. The report's findings suggest that current federal protections are insufficient to counter the persistent efforts of data brokers and other entities that aggregate and publish personal information.

This vulnerability leaves federal judges and their families exposed to potential harm, directly contradicting the intent of the Daniel Anderl Act. The situation highlights the urgent need for more effective measures to ensure the privacy and safety of the judiciary in an era of increasing digital exposure and escalating threats.

This report reveals the practical ineffectiveness of the Daniel Anderl Act in protecting federal judges' home addresses. Lawyers advising on data privacy, particularly for public figures or high-profile individuals, should recognize the limitations of current federal protections and consider more comprehensive strategies for personal information security.

Source: Original reporting via Bloomberg Law