Record custodians often deal with government business emails sent from or to a personal  account. In a recent decision, D’Andrea v. N.J. Civil Service Comm., the GRC reaffirmed its prior rulings that personal email addresses are protected by the expectation of privacy and should be redacted. The GRC noted that while the public is entitled to know the identity of the individual who sent or received the email, the personal email address is private.

Because the New Jersey courts have not yet addressed this issue, agencies should look to the GRC’s decisions for guidance on handling personal email addresses shown in a government record.