N.Y. AG Predicted to Play More Prominent Role in Privacy Oversight, Lawyers Say

“With federal enforcement potentially slowing, State AGs are expected to intensify their privacy and cybersecurity enforcement efforts,” the lawyers noted. “In the absence of an omnibus state privacy act, the NYAG will likely continue to use New York’s consumer protection laws to regulate businesses’ privacy-related, data security, and incident response practices by continuing to seek high penalties, often jointly with other State AGs, especially in the wake of data breaches or when privacy-related concerns are raised regarding data collection and use practices.”

The New York AG has in the past issued advisory warnings to businesses and consumers regarding website tracking technologies that may violate state consumer protection laws, noted the Morrison Foerster attorneys: For example, the AG published a privacy controls guide that says websites with misleading disclosures and broken privacy controls violate state law.

Keeping young people safe online is a priority for New York, as exemplified by the state’s lawsuit against TikTok, the lawyers said. Additionally, the Stop Addictive Feeds Exploitation for Kids Act and New York Child Data Protection Act “place various restrictions on social media platforms aimed at minimizing the alleged harm on young people caused by social media usage.” The lawyers predicted New York would coordinate with other states on enforcement actions about “data related to minors, new technologies, and social media.”