BILL NUMBER: S2539A
SPONSOR: MYRIE
 
TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the general business law, in relation to requiring
retailers to post warning signs of the tracking of customers through
electronic devices that track, monitor, and collect biometric identifier
information on customers
 
PURPOSE:
This bill requires businesses to fully disclose the presence of a
customer tracking system within their store and provide a way for
customers to opt out of such tracking.
 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section 1 amends the General Business Law by adding the new section
390-e, which requires retailers to post warning signs within their
establishment regarding tracking customers' movement through their cell-
phones and other electronic devices for purposes of storing or selling
such information. Such warning signs shall also provide information for
customers who wish to opt out of the tracking. Makes it unlawful for a
retailer to sell, lease, trade for value any biometric identifier infor-
mation. Retailers that do not comply with this section are subject to a
civil penalty of no more than $100 for the first violation, $250 for the
second violation, and not more than $500 for each additional violation
thereafter. All money collected will be retained by the municipality or
local government.
Section 2 provides the effective date.
 
JUSTIFICATION:
Several stores recently reported that they are either experimenting with
or actively using technology that tracks a customer's movement and
actions within the establishment through that individual's cellphone
Wi-Fi system. This data provides the store owners with information on
buying habits, frequency of visits, popularity of different departments,
duration of visits, and other retail metrics. Wi-Fi sensors are placed
in various locations throughout a store to detect other devices' media
access controls (MAC), or the personal signal emitted when that device
is searching for Wi-Fi in the area. Thus, store customers who have
access to the Internet on their electronic devices are automatically
tracked without their knowledge - a sentiment that is inconsistent with
an individual's right to privacy as guaranteed by the 14th Amendment of
the US Constitution. Therefore, such tracking activity must be fully
disclosed as is now standard practice on retailers' websites.
 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
S2539 of 2025-26: Referred to Consumer Protection.
S2404 of 2023-24: Referred to Consumer Protection.
S272A of 2021-22: Committed to Rules.
S3147 of 2019-20: Referred to Consumer Protection.
 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
None.
 
EFFECTIVE DATE: 6sk 1 This bill shall take effect on the ninetieth
day after it shall have become a law.