NY Senate Panel Clears Privacy, Robocalls Bills

New York state privacy and robocalls bills advanced to the Senate floor Tuesday. One Consumer Protection Committee member voted against the privacy bill (S-6701) by Chairman Kevin Thomas (D). Sen. Jim Tedisco (R) said he was voting no due to nonprofits' concerns. Three voted yes, while two voted aye without recommendation, meaning they wanted to move it to the House floor while reserving their full support. The comprehensive privacy measure “creates transparency, control and oversight,” said Thomas at the livestreamed hearing. It would require companies to get consumer opt-in consent, and authorizes attorney general enforcement, private rights of action and class actions. The panel voted unanimously for the robocalls bill (S-6267), which would require that telecoms block calls from subscribers who requested blocking of their own numbers. Providers would have to block calls from numbers that aren't valid North American numbering plan numbers, that are valid but not allocated to a provider, or that are allocated but unused.