HB 1822 — An Act amending Title 44 (Law and Justice) of the Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes, providing for protection of personal data of certain public servants; imposing duties on data brokers regarding personal data; and providing for civil enforcement.

PRINTER'S NO.   2243

                     THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA



                         HOUSE BILL
                         No. 1822
                                                Session of
                                                  2025

     INTRODUCED BY BRIGGS, KUTZ, McNEILL, HILL-EVANS, OTTEN, HOWARD,
        SANCHEZ, BOROWSKI, MAYES, GALLAGHER, D. WILLIAMS, SHUSTERMAN,
        BOYD, NEILSON AND CURRY, AUGUST 26, 2025

     REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON JUDICIARY, AUGUST 26, 2025


                                     AN ACT
 1   Amending Title 44 (Law and Justice) of the Pennsylvania
 2      Consolidated Statutes, providing for protection of personal
 3      data of certain public servants; imposing duties on data
 4      brokers regarding personal data; and providing for civil and
 5      criminal enforcement.
 6      The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
 7   hereby enacts as follows:
 8      Section 1.    Title 44 of the Pennsylvania Consolidated
 9   Statutes is amended by adding a chapter to read:
10                                  CHAPTER 9
11                         PUBLIC SERVANT DATA PRIVACY
12   Sec.
13   901.   Scope of chapter.
14   902.   Findings and declarations.
15   903.   Definitions.
16   904.   Nondisclosure of protected information.
17   905.   Enforcement.
18   906.   Construction.
19   § 901.   Scope of chapter.
 1      This chapter provides for public servant data privacy.
 2   § 902.   Findings and declarations.
 3      The General Assembly finds and declares as follows:
 4            (1)   Judges, lawmakers and other elected and appointed
 5      public servants and their staff play an essential role in the
 6      free and fair functioning of our government. While the nature
 7      of their official duties will undoubtedly draw occasional
 8      disapproval and criticism from members of the public, our
 9      public servants and their families have experienced sharp
10      increases in recent years in the volume and severity of
11      intimidating abuse, threats and violent attacks, including
12      attempted assassinations, some of which have been perpetrated
13      by malefactors obtaining the home addresses or other unlisted
14      contact information of their targets.
15            (2)   These threats and attacks create a chilling effect
16      and constrain how freely our officials interact with the
17      public, narrows the spectrum of positions they feel safe to
18      take or support and make them less willing to continue in
19      public service. This persistent and severe problem is an
20      affront to the effective functioning of our government and
21      the rule of law.
22            (3)   Violence against and intimidation of our public
23      servants and their families is made easier by data brokers
24      disseminating private information, enabling assailants to
25      easily compile dossiers on the public officials the
26      assailants target.
27            (4)   Having personal information easily accessible at the
28      click of a button provides negligible value to the public and
29      poses grave danger to our public officials and their
30      families.

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 1            (5)   This chapter is implemented to foster the ability of
 2      these public servants who perform critical governmental roles
 3      to carry out their official duties without fear of personal
 4      reprisal.
 5   § 903.   Definitions.
 6      The following words and phrases when used in this chapter
 7   shall have the meanings given to them in this section unless the
 8   context clearly indicates otherwise:
 9      "Assignee."        A person or entity to whom a person's right to
10   bring a civil action for a violation of section 904 (relating to
11   nondisclosure of protected information) has been assigned, in
12   writing, by the covered person or their authorized agent.
13      "Associated person."       The following:
14            (1)   An individual connected to a principal person by one
15      of the following relationships:
16                  (i)    A parent, spouse, child or grandchild of a
17            principal person.
18                  (ii)    A person sharing custody of a minor child with
19            a principal person.
20                  (iii)    A person sharing a primary residence with a
21            principal person.
22            (2)   An individual whose main job duties and
23      responsibilities include providing direct support to a
24      principal person in fulfilling the principal person's
25      obligations to the public.
26      "Authorized agent."       Any of the following persons or entities
27   authorized to submit or revoke a request for nondisclosure of
28   protected information on behalf of a covered person and to
29   engage in communications and enforcement:
30            (1)   A designated trustee or other agent acting under a

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 1      written power of attorney or other legal instrument on behalf
 2      of any covered person who is physically or mentally
 3      incapacitated.
 4          (2)   A parent or legal guardian on behalf of any child,
 5      who is a minor, who is otherwise entitled to nondisclosure
 6      under this act.
 7          (3)   A person or entity that has been appointed under a
 8      written power of attorney by a covered person to act on their
 9      behalf with respect to this chapter.
10          (4)   An agent acting on behalf of a Federal judge, a
11      designee of the United States Marshals Service or the clerk
12      of any United States District Court.
13      "Covered person."    A principal person or associated person.
14      "Data broker."    A person or entity that discloses the
15   protected information of an individual to a third party. The
16   term does not include a governmental agency or its
17   representatives acting in an official capacity.
18      "Disclose."   To solicit, sell, manufacture, give, provide,
19   lend, trade, mail, deliver, transfer, post, publish, distribute,
20   circulate, disseminate, present, exhibit, advertise, offer or
21   include within a searchable list or database, regardless of
22   whether any other person or entity has actually searched the
23   list or database for the person's information.
24      "Home address."   A dwelling location at which an individual
25   resides and includes the physical address, mailing address,
26   street address, parcel identification number, plot
27   identification number, legal property description, neighborhood
28   name and lot number, GPS coordinates and any other descriptive
29   property information that may reveal the home address.
30      "Home telephone number."    A telephone number used primarily

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 1   for personal communications or associated with personal
 2   communications devices, including a landline or cellular number.
 3      "Judge."    Any judge, judicial officer or magisterial district
 4   judge, as defined in 42 Pa.C.S. § 102 (relating to definitions).
 5      "Principal person."    Any active, formerly active or retired:
 6            (1)   judge;
 7            (2)   public official as defined in 65 Pa.C.S. § 1102
 8      (relating to definitions); or
 9            (3)   person who holds or previously held a Federal
10      position or a position in another state comparable to those
11      identified in paragraph (1) or (2) and who has a home address
12      in this Commonwealth.
13      "Protected information."    The term includes:
14            (1)   A home address, including a primary residence or
15      secondary residences.
16            (2)   A home telephone number.
17            (3)   A personal email address.
18            (4)   A Social Security number or driver's license number.
19            (5)   A license plate number or other unique identifiers
20      of a vehicle owned, leased or regularly used by the covered
21      person.
22   § 904.   Nondisclosure of protected information.
23      (a)   Prohibition.--A covered person or their authorized agent
24   seeking to prohibit the disclosure by a data broker of protected
25   information of the covered person shall provide written notice
26   to the data broker referencing this act and requesting that the
27   data broker cease the disclosure of the covered person's
28   protected information, as described in the notice.
29      (b)   Data brokers.--Upon notification under subsection (a),
30   and not later than 10 business days following physical or

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 1   electronic receipt of the notification, a data broker shall not
 2   disclose or redisclose or otherwise make available, including on
 3   a publicly accessible Internet website, the protected
 4   information of the covered person.
 5      (c)   Duration.--The nondisclosure shall last for the
 6   following time frames:
 7            (1)   A principal person shall receive coverage for life.
 8            (2)   An associated person shall receive coverage while
 9      connected to a principal person and for 10 years after the
10      connection.
11   § 905.   Enforcement.
12      (a)   Civil liability.--A data broker that violates section
13   904(b) (relating to nondisclosure of protected information)
14   shall be liable to the covered person, the covered person's
15   authorized agent or the covered person's assignee, who may bring
16   a civil action in the appropriate court of common pleas.
17      (b)   Criminal liability.--In addition to civil liability, a
18   data broker that violates section 904 recklessly or
19   intentionally is subject to criminal prosecution as follows:
20            (1)   A reckless violation of section 904 shall be a
21      misdemeanor of the third degree.
22            (2)   An intentional violation of section 904 shall be a
23      misdemeanor of the second degree.
24      (c)   Time limits.--
25            (1)   A civil action under this section must be commenced
26      within the following periods of limitation:
27                  (i)    four years from the date the violation occurred;
28            or
29                  (ii)   for a continuing violation, within four years
30            from the last date the violation occurred.

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 1            (2)   A criminal prosecution under this section must be
 2      commenced within the following periods of limitation:
 3                  (i)    two years from the date the violation occurred;
 4            or
 5                  (ii)   for a continuing violation, within two years
 6            from the last date the violation occurred.
 7      (d)   Proceedings.--Proceedings shall be in accordance with
 8   the following:
 9            (1)   In a civil judicial proceeding under this chapter,
10      the standard of fault shall be ordinary negligence.
11            (2)   In a civil or criminal judicial proceeding under
12      this chapter, it shall not be a defense to liability in the
13      proceeding that the protected information is or was available
14      to the public from other sources or available by inspection
15      of public records.
16            (3)   A party accessing a data broker's website or other
17      products or services, for the purpose of determining whether
18      the covered person's protected information is disclosed,
19      shall not, as a result of the access, be deemed to have
20      agreed on behalf of the covered person or the covered
21      person's authorized agent or assignee to any website terms
22      and conditions with respect to the covered person, associated
23      person or the covered person or associated person's
24      assignee's rights under this chapter.
25            (4)   No prior verification of a covered person's status
26      shall be required for the notice under section 904 to be
27      effective. It shall be an affirmative defense to liability
28      that a person is not a covered person.
29      (e)   Limitation.--A disclosure of protected information is
30   not a violation of this chapter if the disclosure is:

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 1             (1)   made with the express authorization of the covered
 2      person or their authorized agent, contingent upon the
 3      authorization being provided subsequent to the relevant
 4      nondisclosure request described in section 904; or
 5             (2)   for the sole purpose of facilitating a transaction
 6      initiated by the covered person or their authorized agent.
 7      (f)    Relief.--In a civil action, for violations of section
 8   904, the court shall award:
 9             (1)   The greater of actual damages or liquidated damages
10      computed at the rate of $1,000 for each violation of section
11      904.
12             (2)   Punitive damages upon proof of willful or reckless
13      disregard of the law.
14             (3)   Reasonable attorney fees and other litigation costs
15      reasonably incurred.
16             (4)   Any other preliminary and equitable relief as the
17      court determines to be appropriate.
18   § 906.    Construction.
19      (a)    Liberally construed.--This chapter shall be liberally
20   construed in order to accomplish its purpose.
21      (b)    Limitation.--Nothing in this chapter shall preclude any
22   of the following:
23             (1)   A covered person from complying with all required
24      disclosure and filing requirements if the covered person is a
25      candidate for public office.
26             (2)   An individual from challenging the residency of a
27      covered person if the covered person is a candidate for
28      public office.
29      Section 2.     This act shall take effect immediately.



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