NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A1320
SPONSOR: Simon TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the labor law, in relation to the "uniform employee and
student online privacy protection act"
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:
This bill addresses an employer's access to employee's and or prospec-
tive employee's social media and other online accounts accessed via
user-name and password or other credentials of authentication as well as
post-secondary institutions access to student's or prospective student's
similar online accounts.
SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS:
Section 1 of the bill states that the act shall be known as the "Uniform
Employee and Student Online Privacy Protection Act."
Section 2 states that the Labor Law is amended by adding a new article
33 entitled the "Uniform Employee and Student Online Privacy Protection
Act."
Proposed new section 950 of the Labor Law establishes definitions used
throughout the article.
Proposed new section 951 of the Labor Law delineates protections for
employee protected personal online accounts and provides for necessary
exceptions to these protections.
Proposed new section 952 of the Labor Law delineates protections for
student protected personal online accounts and provides for necessary
exceptions to these protections.
Proposed new section 953 of the Labor Law provides remedies for
violations of the act, including a private right of action.
Proposed new section 954 of the Labor Law states that in applying and
constructing this law, consideration must be given to the need to
promote uniformity of the law with respect to its subject matter among
states that enact it.
Proposed new section 955 of the Labor Law states how this article
relates to the Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce
Act.
Section 3 provides a severability clause.
Section 4 states that this act shall take effect immediately.
JUSTIFICATION:
In today's day and age, most individuals possess an online account of
some form. These include social media accounts, bank accounts, and email
accounts among others. Generally, when someone asks for access to the
login information for, or non-public content of, a personal online
acdd44tii an individual is free to say "no." However, that is not always
the case in employment and educational contexts. Employers may have the
power to coerce access to personal online accounts of individuals who
are, or seek to become, their employees. Similarly, educational insti-
tutions may have coercive power over those who are, or seek to become,
their students. When an employer or educational institution asks for the
login information for, or non-public content of, an employee's or
student's online account, that person may find it difficult to refuse. A
growing number of reports in recent years show an increasing trend where
employers and educational institutions have demanded and received access
to personal online accounts.
This legislation implements a proposal of the Uniform Law Commission.
As such, it will serve as a guidepost for legislation pertaining to
employees and student's online privacy across the nation. Its uniformity
will allow other states to enact similar privacy legislation, thereby
creating a consistent and uniform set of protections and guidelines
across the country, rather than each state passing singular pieces of
legislation. The Uniform Law Commission members are not only practicing
lawyers but also judges, legislators and legislative staff and law
professors, who have been appointed by state governments as well as the
District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands to
research, draft and promote enactment of uniform state laws in areas of
state law where uniformity is desirable and practical.
The state uniform law commissioners come together as the Uniform Law
Commission for one purpose, which is to study and review the law of the
states to determine which areas of law should be uniform. The commis-
sioners promote the principle of uniformity by drafting and proposing
specific statutes in areas of the law where uniformity between the
states are desirable.
IMPACT ON REGULATION OF BUSINESS AND INDIVIDUALS:
Prevents employers and educational institutions from coercing access to
employee's and student's personal online accounts.
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
Minimal.
EFFECT ON FINES, TERMS OF IMPRISONMENT AND OTHER PENAL SANCTIONS:
The Attorney General may bring a civil action against an employer or
educational institution for a violation of this article to obtain an
injunction and a civil penalty of up to one thousand dollars for each
violation, but not exceeding one hundred thousand dollars for all
violations caused by the same event. A private right of action can
obtain an injunction, actual damages, costs and reasonable attorney's
fees.
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
2023-24 A1360 Simon -referred to labor S765 Kruger -referred to labor
2022-21 A6114 Simon -referred to labor 5943 Kruger -referred to labor
2019-20: A.935 (Buchwald) -referred to labor
2017/2018: A.5995 (Buchwald) - Referred to Labor / S.7808 (Krueger)
Referred to Labor
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately.
