BILL NUMBER: S8045
SPONSOR: BYNOE
 
TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the executive law, in relation to requiring the office
for the prevention of domestic violence provide informational materials
on the removal of accounts from smart home systems
 
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:
This bill requires the state Office for the Prevention of Domestic
Violence to provide informational materials to survivors on how to
remove abusers from smart home systems and how to protect against cyber
harassment and stalking that maybe associated with these devices.
 
SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS:
Section one amends the executive law by adding a new section 577.
Section two establishes the effective date.
 
JUSTIFICATION:
In the digital age, domestic violence survivors face new patterns of
harassment, control, intimidation, and monitoring through their smart
home devices. These attacks can leave survivors feeling powerless and
unsafe in the privacy of their own homes even if their abuser no longer
lives with them. This issue is fueled by a lack of awareness about the
operations of smart home systems, uncertainty of the level of access
that abusers may have to smart home technology and the legal resources a
survivor can take to cease abuse.
A Guardian article published in 2023 highlighted the shocking rise and
devastating effects that this abuse can have on survivors. According to
a report by refuge, a staggering 57% of homes owned at least one smart
device in 2019, and the cases of tech-facilitated abuse reported to
Refuge skyrocketed by 258% between 2018 and 2022. Instances of abuse
ranged from smart home devices being controlled without consent, cameras
being accessed, thermostats being controlled, and home speakers blasting
music sporadically. Additionally, research from the group Which? showed
that many smart devices stopped receiving security updates from their
manufacturers in as little as two years. The unregulated environment of
control and fear that is created through the manipulation of this tech-
nology underscores the desperate need for more education and resources.
This bill would ensure that the state Office of the Prevention of Domes-
tic Violence provides survivors with information on how to remedy
harassment through the removal of abusers' access to smart home technol-
ogy accounts. Additionally, the legislation would require the develop-
ment of strategies to improve laws pertaining to cyber harassment and
stalking to ensure that as smart home technologies update, information
provided to survivors will as well.
 
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
New bill.
 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
Undetermined.
 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
90 days.