On January 14, Governor Kathy Hochul announced new proposals to protect New York consumers as part of her 2025 State of the State.
Her proposals included legislation to: (i) combat algorithmic price discrimination by requiring businesses to notify online consumers when prices are set based on personal data and to prohibit the use of protected class data (including but not limited to age and sex) in setting prices; (ii) create a minimum 30-day return window for certain e-commerce sales; and (iii) establish “a licensing and supervision framework for Buy Now, Pay Later providers” which would include “disclosure requirements, dispute resolution standards, late fee limits, and data privacy protections to ensure consumers are better protected when using these financial products.”
Additionally, pursuant to a 2023 law empowering the NYDFS to regulate abusive fee practices, the Governor directed NYDFS to issue regulations to prohibit predatory fees, cap daily overdraft charges, and improve transparency through notifications to protect consumers from “exploitative banking practices.” The Governor also signed into law legislation requiring “businesses to notify consumers of upcoming renewals and provide clear instructions on how to cancel subscriptions.”
Finally, Governor Hochul indicated that combating elder financial exploitation was a legislative priority and she would seek legislation to provide “more authority to banks and other institutions to pause certain suspicious transactions and mandate reporting of suspected exploitation and fraud to law enforcement and Adult Protective Services.”
