New Doxing Bill Mandates 72-Hour Removal of Legislators' and Survivors' Private Data from Public Records and Data Brokers

This bill, officially the Protecting Legislators and Survivors of Sexual Assault and Domestic Violence from Doxing and Political Violence Act, establishes a fast-track system for certain high-risk individuals to scrub their sensitive personal information from the internet. The core of the law is defining who gets this protection and what information qualifies. If you’re a Member of Congress, a designated staffer, or an immediate family member living with them—you’re considered an “at-risk individual.”

The 72-Hour Clock for Government and the Web

If you fall into that protected group, you can notify any government agency holding your data (and that of your family) that you are “at-risk.” That agency then has a strict 72-hour deadline to remove your "covered information" from anything publicly available online. Covered information is the stuff you don't want out there: home addresses, personal cell numbers, bank details, and even specific details about a minor’s school or daily route. Think of it as hitting the emergency privacy button, and the government has three days to comply. This is a significant change, creating a specific legal right for this class of people to compel the removal of their data from public records, a right not generally afforded to the average citizen.

Shutting Down the Data Brokers

The bill also takes aim at the commercial data ecosystem. Data brokers—companies that collect and sell personal information without having a direct relationship with you—are prohibited from knowingly selling, trading, or purchasing the covered information of a “covered person.” This includes the at-risk individuals (legislators, etc.), state and local elected officials, and, importantly, survivors of domestic violence or sexual assault. For these survivors, this provision is a major win, creating a legal shield against having their location or contact details aggregated and sold to potentially dangerous parties. If you’re running a business that operates online, you also have a 72-hour window to remove a protected person’s covered information after receiving a written request.

The Transparency Trade-Off

While the security benefits are clear—especially following recent incidents of doxing and threats against public figures—this bill introduces a tension between privacy and transparency. The law includes broad exceptions: it doesn't stop the press from investigating or reporting on illegal activity, nor does it block reporting on “matters of public concern.” These exceptions are vague, and that’s where things get tricky. Who decides what constitutes a "matter of public concern"? If a journalist is researching a legislator’s property holdings or local connections, a removal request could be used to slow down or block access to information previously considered public, potentially limiting accountability. For researchers and the general public, this means certain public records related to specific officials will become significantly harder, or impossible, to access.

What Stays Public

It’s important to note what this bill doesn't cover. Information already required to be filed with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) or other legally mandated candidate filings remains public. So, while your home address might be scrubbed from a government database, your campaign finance reports and certain financial disclosures are still out there. This bill creates a specific, protected class with expedited privacy rights, balancing their need for security against the public’s right to know, with the scales tipping toward protection when it comes to highly sensitive, personal data.