1. United States
2. N.Y.
3. Letter

New York needs to pass comprehensive data privacy legislation modeled on Connecticut's Senate Bill 4, which passed 141-6 in their House and 31-4 in their Senate this May. Connecticut is now poised to become the national leader in data broker regulation, and New York should follow immediately. Connecticut's bill creates a centralized deletion system where residents submit one request to remove their data from every registered data broker in the state. Right now, I would need to pay services like DeleteMe $129 annually just to contact brokers individually. Connecticut residents will get this for free through their Department of Consumer Protection. Every data broker must register by January 2027 or face $200 per day penalties. The bill also bans surveillance pricing, where companies charge different prices based on my browsing history and location data. A 2024 FTC report found major retailers including Mastercard and JPMorgan Chase using personal data for individualized pricing. Connecticut joins Maryland in banning this practice. New York should pass similar legislation this session. The $462 billion data broker industry has operated without oversight for too long. Connecticut proved bipartisan supermajorities support strong privacy protections.