The Alliance for Responsible Data Collection (ARDC) led a cross-sector coalition in submitting a formal letter to New York Governor Kathy Hochul, requesting a veto of A.11292/S.9934-A, the New York Stealth Crawler Prohibition Act.
The letter, signed by organizations spanning technology, real estate, finance, and civil society, urges the Governor to veto the bill on the grounds that it is drafted too broadly and goes well beyond its stated purpose of protecting journalism providers.
The coalition’s key concerns: The bill covers a wide range of lawful technologies and activities that rely on publicly available web data, including research, cybersecurity, archiving, market analysis, and consumer services. Its broad scope and significant penalties put small businesses, nonprofits, and researchers at particular risk. The bill’s enforcement provisions, including pre-action subpoenas, raise serious privacy concerns and threaten to expose the identities of individuals engaged in lawful online activity. Publishers already have existing tools to control access to their content, and existing law already addresses genuinely harmful conduct.
The coalition calls on Governor Hochul to pursue a more targeted, collaborative approach that addresses demonstrable harms without restricting lawful research, commerce, innovation, and access to public information.
The letter was signed by:
– ARDC (Alliance for Responsible Data Collection)
– NYSAR (NYS Association of Realtors)
– The Business Council of New York State
– State Privacy & Security Coalition
– Chamber of Progress
– TechNet
– Tech:NYC
Read the full coalition letter here.