On February 19, 2021, the New York Senate introduced S4959, which would impose a monthly excise tax on the collection of the consumer data of individual New York consumers by commercial data collectors. The tax rate varies based on the number of New York consumers the commercial data collector collects data on within the month, ranging from $0 per month (less than or equal to one million New York consumers) to $2,250,000 per month plus 50 cents per month on the number of New York consumers over ten million (over ten million New York consumers).
“Commercial data collector” is defined as “a for-profit entity that: (i) collects, maintains, uses, processes, sells or shares consumer data in support of its business activities; and (ii) collects consumer data, other than consumer contact information, on more than one million individual New York consumers in a month within the calendar year.” “Consumer data” is defined as “any information that identifies, relates to, describes, is capable of being associated with, or could reasonably be linked with a consumer, whether directly submitted to the commercial data collector by the consumer or derived from other sources.”
If passed, the tax would apply to all tax years commencing on or after the first day of the first month that begins more than six months after the law takes effect.