Economic Liberties calls on Gov. Hochul to reject industry carveouts and restore a private right of action via chapter amendment.

ALBANY — Last night, the New York State Legislature passed The One Fair Price Act, critical legislation pushed by Attorney General Letitia James to stop surveillance pricing and ban corporations from using personal data to set individualized prices. In response, the American Economic Liberties Project released the following statement applauding the passage of the bill flagging a major and necessary provision that was removed before passage: 

“This bill is a real step forward, and the sponsors, the rest of the New York legislature, and the attorney general deserve credit for taking seriously the invasive surveillance pricing that is raising costs for New Yorkers,” said Pat Garofalo, director of state and local policy at the American Economic Liberties Project. “We know industry groups will line up to ask Gov. Hochul for carveouts and exemptions via chapter amendments, and we urge her to not only disregard those disingenuous requests – as the bill already provides ample protection for bona fide discounts and loyalty and rewards programs – but to further strengthen enforcement measures by reinstating the private right of action that was unfortunately stripped out during the legislative process and sign the bill into law.” 

The removal of the private right of action prevents New Yorkers from being able to directly sue if a corporation ignores the law and uses their data for surveillance pricing. Instead, they must rely on state enforcement or private arbitration, which will leave fewer opportunities for robust enforcement and undermine the intent of the bill.

For more, see “Prohibiting Surveillance Prices and Wages,” and focus group research from Economic Liberties and Lake Research Partners showing that voters overwhelmingly oppose surveillance pricing.

Learn more about Economic Liberties here.