On June 30, 2026, New Jersey’s Governor Mikie Sherrill signed a new data broker law, largely effective immediately, that adds significant new obligations for businesses involved in personal data sales. The law reaches traditional data brokers that collect or purchase personal data about consumers with whom they do not have a direct relationship and then sell or license that information to third parties. It also creates obligations for “data collectors,” meaning businesses or business units that collect personal data directly from consumers and then sell or license that information to data brokers.
A central feature of the law is an annual registration requirement for covered data brokers and data collectors engaged in selling or licensing New Jersey consumers’ personal data . The state’s Division of Consumer Affairs will establish and maintain a public registry that includes contact information, privacy policy information, website information, and relevant opt-out information for each registrant. Registration fees are based on volume, starting at $5,000 for 100,000 or fewer New Jersey consumers and increasing to $1.5 million for entities involving personal data of more than 4.5 million New Jersey consumers. Registration submissions must address opt-out rights, deletion rights, activities from which individuals may not opt out, purchaser credentialing, cybersecurity event history, information concerning individuals under 18, and processors handling personal data on the entity’s behalf.
The law also prohibits data brokers and data collectors from selling or licensing sensitive data, and it separately amends New Jersey’s privacy law to prohibit controllers from selling sensitive data regardless of processing volume. Sensitive data includes categories such as health information, certain financial account information, citizenship or immigration status, genetic or biometric data used for identification, personal data collected from a known child, and precise geolocation data. The statute includes exclusions for certain regulated data and entities, including specified health, financial, insurance, consumer reporting, government, research, and securities-related contexts. Civil penalties include $2,500 per day for registration or update failures and $50,000 per record for certain sensitive data violations. Although most of the law took effect immediately, the registry provision remains inoperative for 270 days following enactment.
For businesses holding data about New Jersey residents, the new law reinforces the need for accurate data inventories, clear data sale and licensing arrangement oversight, and careful review of any sensitive data practices. As state privacy laws become more specific, companies should be prepared to show not only what their policies say, but how their data practices actually work.