New York Signs into Law New Data Privacy Bill

On November 8, 2021, New York Governor Kathy Hochul signed into law an amendment to New York's civil rights law, A.430/S.2628, which will impact the privacy rights of all New York employees and the requirements imposed on all New York employers.

Under the new bill, all employers who elect to engage in, or intend to potentially engage in, monitoring email systems, telephone calls, and internet usage of their employees will be required to provide newly hired employees with satisfactory written notice of their monitoring processes.  Employers will also have to provide an annual reminder of such process to all existing employees.

This new bill will go into effect on May 7, 2022, and will be enforceable by the Attorney General, whowill have the power to impose  civil penalties for violations ranging from $500 for a first offense, $1,000 for a second offense, and $3,000 for a third and each subsequent offense.

There is currently no federal mandate requiring employers to provide information on their monitoring processes. Additionally, in most states there are no state-level privacy laws which will afford this type of protection to their citizens. This New York bill could be considered a “trailblazer” of this sort of imposition being placed on employers in light of the recent legislative shifts towards enhanced privacy protections across the United States.