Repeals law prohibiting collection and sharing of certain personal information.
Assembly Bill 5175 repeals New Jersey’s recently enacted “Privacy Protection Act,” which limits how State and local government entities and health care facilities may collect, use, and disclose certain personal information. Under the repealed law, agencies and facilities generally could not request or collect immigration status, citizenship status, place of birth, Social Security number, or individual taxpayer identification number unless the information was necessary to determine eligibility for or administer a public service, benefit, program, professional qualification, or licensure. The law also restricted disclosure of that information, subject to exceptions such as judicial orders, federal law, or written consent.
The bill would eliminate those restrictions entirely by repealing P.L.2026, c.4. It would also remove the related requirements for government entities and health care facilities to adopt implementation policies and procedures, and it would end the private right of action that allowed individuals to sue for civil damages and injunctive relief for violations. The bill takes effect immediately upon enactment.
By repealing the Privacy Protection Act, this bill would restore broader discretion to State and local government entities and health care facilities to request, collect, and share the covered personal information, including immigration-related and tax-identification data, subject to any other applicable state or federal laws. It would also eliminate the statute’s specific limits on automated license plate recognition information sharing, as well as the compliance obligations and civil liability provisions created by the repealed law. In practical terms, the bill would reduce privacy protections for affected individuals and remove a statutory cause of action against entities that previously violated those restrictions.
The available statement indicates support for repeal from the sponsor, who argues that the existing privacy law hampers law enforcement’s ability to identify and locate potential criminal offenders and creates administrative burdens for agencies and facilities trying to comply. Because there are no committee transcripts or recorded votes provided, there is no broader documented legislative debate in the materials, but the bill’s framing suggests a pro-enforcement, anti-burden rationale behind the proposal. The overall sentiment in the bill text is therefore favorable to loosening the current information-sharing restrictions.
The main point of contention is the balance between privacy and enforcement. Supporters of repeal, as reflected in the sponsor statement, view the current law as an obstacle to law enforcement and an administrative burden on public entities and health care facilities. Opponents would likely argue that the repealed law protects immigrants, patients, and other residents from unnecessary collection and disclosure of sensitive personal information, and that it limits misuse of data such as immigration status, citizenship, Social Security numbers, and license plate records. The bill also implicates the loss of private enforcement rights, which would be a concern for privacy advocates.