STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 1057--A 2023-2024 Regular Sessions IN ASSEMBLY January 13, 2023 ___________ Introduced by M. of A. VANEL -- read once and referred to the Committee on Consumer Affairs and Protection -- committee discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said commit- tee AN ACT to amend the general business law, in relation to online dating services The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Section 394-c of the general business law, as amended by 2 chapter 468 of the laws of 1996, is amended to read as follows: 3 § 394-c. Limitations on certain contracts involving social referral 4 services. 1. As used in this section, the following terms shall have 5 the following meanings: 6 (a) "social referral service" shall include any service for a fee 7 providing matching of members [of the opposite sex], by use of computer 8 or any other means, for the purpose of dating [and] or general social 9 contact. 10 (b) "ancillary services" shall refer to goods or services directly or 11 indirectly related to or to be provided in connection with the social 12 referral service process, including but not limited to photography, 13 grooming, cosmetology, dating etiquette, dating counseling, or other 14 services. 15 (c) "online dating service" shall mean any social referral service 16 where the services are offered primarily online, such as by means of an 17 internet website or a mobile application. 18 (d) "banned member" shall mean the member whose account or profile is 19 the subject of a fraud ban. 20 (e) "fraud ban" shall mean when a member's account or profile is 21 barred from an online dating service because, in the judgment of the 22 service, the member poses a significant risk of attempting to obtain 23 money from other members through fraudulent means. EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted. LBD03780-02-3
A. 1057--A 2 1 (f) "New York member" shall mean a person who provides a New York 2 residential or billing address or zip code or is in New York when regis- 3 tering with the online dating service. 4 (g) "personally identifying information" shall mean any representation 5 of information that permits the identity of an individual to whom the 6 information applies to be reasonably inferred by either direct or indi- 7 rect means which shall include, but shall not be limited to, a person's 8 full name, home address, telephone number, geographic location, email 9 address, social security number, or a combination of non-personally 10 identifying information which, when put together, can permit the iden- 11 tification of the person. 12 2. No contract for social referral service shall require payment by 13 the purchaser of such service of a cash price in excess of one thousand 14 dollars. Services to be rendered to the purchaser under the contract 15 may extend over a period not to exceed two years from the date the 16 contract is entered into. This subdivision shall not apply to an online 17 dating service contract where the initial term is one year or less and 18 any subsequent terms are one year or less where payment in excess of the 19 amount provided under this subdivision is reasonable in light of the 20 service's offerings. 21 2-a. No social referral service provider shall require the purchase of 22 an ancillary service by a purchaser of a social referral service as a 23 condition of entering into a social referral service contract with such 24 provider. 25 3. Every contract for social referral service which requires payment 26 by the purchaser of such service of a total amount in excess of twenty- 27 five dollars shall provide that the seller of such service must furnish 28 to the purchaser a specified certain number of social referrals per 29 month. This subdivision shall not apply to an online dating service 30 where the user can use a search functionality or is presented with 31 possible matches. 32 4. Every contract for social referral service which requires payment 33 by the purchaser of such service of a total amount in excess of twenty- 34 five dollars shall provide that in the event that the seller of such 35 service does not furnish to the purchaser the specified certain number 36 of social referrals for two or more successive months the purchaser 37 shall have the option to cancel the contract and to receive a refund of 38 all monies paid pursuant to the cancelled contract with the exception 39 that the seller shall be entitled to retain as a cancellation fee 40 fifteen per cent of the cash price or a pro rata amount for the number 41 of referrals furnished to the purchaser, whichever is greater. Every 42 such contract shall set forth in the contract and in the bill of rights 43 the manner in which such services provider determines its cancellation 44 fee pursuant to this subdivision. This subdivision shall not apply to 45 an online dating service where the user can use a search functionality 46 or is presented with possible matches. 47 5. Every contract for social referral service shall provide that the 48 seller will not without the prior written consent of the purchaser sell, 49 assign or otherwise transfer for business or for any other purpose to 50 any person any information and material of a personal or private nature 51 acquired from a purchaser directly or indirectly including but not 52 limited to answers to tests and questionnaires, photographs or back- 53 ground information. 54 5-a. Every contract for a social referral service shall provide each 55 purchaser with the unilateral right to place his or her membership on 56 hold for a period of up to one year; provided, however, that the
A. 1057--A 3 1 purchaser and social referral service may mutually agree to a longer 2 period not to exceed two years. To exercise the unilateral right 3 provided in this subdivision, a purchaser must notify the social refer- 4 ral service provider in writing of his or her intent to do so. 5 6. Every contract for social referral service shall provide that at 6 the expiration of the contract or at the expiration of services rendered 7 by the seller, for any reason, all information and material of a 8 personal or private nature acquired from a purchaser directly or indi- 9 rectly including but not limited to answers to tests and questionnaires, 10 photographs or background information shall be [promptly] returned by 11 the seller to the purchaser by certified mail and/or deleted from any 12 electronic storage devices within a reasonable amount of time. 13 7. (a) Every contract for social referral service shall provide that 14 such contract may be cancelled without a cancellation fee within three 15 business days after the date of receipt by the buyer of a copy of the 16 written contract. 17 (b) In every social referral service sale, the seller shall furnish to 18 the buyer a fully completed copy of the contract pertaining to such sale 19 at the time of its execution, which is in the same language, e.g., Span- 20 ish, as that principally used in the oral sales presentation and which 21 shows the date of the transaction and contains the name and address of 22 the seller, and in the immediate proximity to the space reserved in the 23 contract for the signature of the buyer and in not less than ten-point 24 bold face type, a statement in substantially the following form: 25 YOU, THE BUYER, MAY CANCEL THIS CONTRACT WITHOUT ANY CANCELLATION FEE 26 WITHIN THREE (3) BUSINESS DAYS AFTER THE DATE OF THIS CONTRACT. SEE THE 27 ATTACHED NOTICE OF CANCELLATION FORM FOR AN EXPLANATION OF THIS RIGHT. 28 (c) Notice of cancellation shall be delivered by certified or regis- 29 tered United States mail at the address specified in the contract. 30 (d) At the time the buyer signs the social referral service contract, 31 a completed form in duplicate, captioned "NOTICE OF CANCELLATION", which 32 shall be attached to the contract and easily detachable, and which shall 33 contain in not less than ten-point bold face type the following informa- 34 tion and statements in the same language, e.g., Spanish, as that used in 35 the contract: 36 NOTICE OF CANCELLATION 37 (enter date of transaction) 38 (Date) 39 YOU MAY CANCEL THIS CONTRACT, WITHOUT ANY PENALTY OR OBLIGATION, WITHIN 40 THREE (3) BUSINESS DAYS AFTER THE DATE OF THIS CONTRACT BY MAILING THIS 41 SIGNED AND DATED NOTICE OF CANCELLATION BY CERTIFIED OR REGISTERED 42 UNITED STATES MAIL TO THE SELLER AT THE ADDRESS SPECIFIED HEREIN. IF YOU 43 CANCEL, ANY PAYMENTS MADE BY YOU UNDER THE CONTRACT WILL BE RETURNED 44 WITHIN TEN (10) BUSINESS DAYS FOLLOWING RECEIPT BY THE SELLER OF YOUR 45 CANCELLATION NOTICE. TO CANCEL THIS TRANSACTION, MAIL BY CERTIFIED OR 46 REGISTERED UNITED STATES MAIL A SIGNED AND DATED COPY OF THIS CANCELLA- 47 TION NOTICE TO: 48 (Name of Seller) NOT LATER THAN _______________ 49 (Address of Seller) (Date) 50 ___________________ 51 This subdivision shall not apply to an online dating service where the 52 online dating service contract includes the statement required by this 53 subdivision in a clear and conspicuous manner. 54 (e) In every social referral service sale or renewal, the seller shall 55 provide each purchaser with a clear and conspicuous, separate written
A. 1057--A 4 1 notice, which may be a conspicuous and appropriately labeled hyperlink 2 for an online dating service, to be known as the "Dating Service Consum- 3 er Bill of Rights", which shall contain at least the following informa- 4 tion: 5 Dating Service Consumer Bill of Rights 6 1. No social referral service contract shall require the payment by 7 you, the purchaser, of an amount greater than one thousand dollars. In 8 addition, no such contract may extend over a period of time greater than 9 two years. 10 2. No social referral service contract shall require you, the purchas- 11 er, to purchase a good or service which is directly or indirectly 12 related to the social referral service. These extra services are known 13 as ancillary services and, while these ancillary service may be offered 14 to you, the law prohibits the seller from requiring that you purchase 15 this service as a condition of your social referral service contract. 16 3. If your social referral service contract costs more than twenty- 17 five dollars, the seller must furnish a minimum number of referrals per 18 month to you. If this minimum amount is not furnished to you for two 19 successive months, you have the option of cancelling the contract and 20 receiving a full refund of all the money you paid, less a cancellation 21 fee which cannot exceed either fifteen percent of the cash price or a 22 pro rata amount for the number of referrals furnished to you. 23 4. Your social referral service contract must specify the distance 24 which you, the purchaser, are willing to travel to meet any social 25 referral. No social referrals shall be furnished where you and the 26 referral live at a distance greater than the distance specified in the 27 contract. 28 5. The provider must have an established policy to address the situ- 29 ation of your moving outside the area it services. This policy must be 30 explained in your contract. 31 6. If any provision of the social referral service contract is 32 violated, you have the right to bring a court action against the provid- 33 er which has violated the contract. 34 8. Every contract for social referral service shall specify the 35 distance which the buyer is willing to travel to meet any social refer- 36 ral. No social referral shall be furnished by the seller to the buyer if 37 either the buyer or the social referral reside at a distance further 38 than the distance specified in either the buyer's or social referral's 39 contracts. This subdivision shall not apply to online dating services 40 that are generally available to users on a regional, national, or global 41 basis. 42 8-a. Every social referral service provider must establish and admin- 43 ister a fair and reasonable policy for the situation in which a purchas- 44 er moves to permanently reside at a location outside the service area of 45 such provider. This policy must be set forth in every contract for 46 social referral service. This subdivision shall not apply to online 47 dating services that are generally available to users on a national or 48 global basis. 49 9. (a) Whenever there shall be a violation of this section an applica- 50 tion may be made by the attorney general in the name of the people of 51 the state of New York to a court or justice having jurisdiction by a 52 special proceeding to issue an injunction, and upon notice to the 53 defendant of not less than five days, to enjoin and restrain the contin- 54 uance of such violation; and if it shall appear to the satisfaction of 55 the court or justice that the defendant has, in fact, violated this 56 section, an injunction may be issued by the court or justice, enjoining
A. 1057--A 5 1 and restraining any further violations, without requiring proof that any 2 person has, in fact, been injured or damaged thereby. In any such 3 proceeding, the court may make allowances to the attorney general as 4 provided in paragraph six of subdivision (a) of section eighty-three 5 hundred three of the civil practice law and rules, and direct restitu- 6 tion. Whenever the court shall determine that a violation of this 7 section has occurred, the court may impose a civil penalty of not more 8 than one thousand dollars for each violation. In connection with any 9 such proposed application the attorney general is authorized to take 10 proof and make a determination of the relevant facts and to issue 11 subpoenas in accordance with the civil practice law and rules, and 12 direct restitution. 13 (b) Any person who has been injured by reason of a violation of this 14 section may bring an action in his or her own name to enjoin such 15 violation, an action to recover his or her actual damages or fifty 16 dollars whichever is greater, or both such actions. 17 (c) In cities having a population over one million, the provisions of 18 this section may be enforced concurrently with the attorney general by 19 the director of a local or municipal consumer affairs office. In cities 20 having a population over one million, such local entities may also 21 require social referral services to be licensed. Such licensing require- 22 ments may be promulgated as are reasonably necessary to effectuate 23 licensure, provided, however, that such localities may not impose 24 substantive requirements that are inconsistent with or more restrictive 25 than those set forth in this section. Any fee for such license may not 26 exceed three hundred forty dollars for a two year period. 27 10. (a) An online dating service shall disclose to all of its New York 28 members known to have previously received and responded to an on-site 29 message from a banned member: 30 (1) the user name, identification number, or other profile identifier 31 of the banned member; 32 (2) the fact that the banned member was banned because, in the judg- 33 ment of the online dating service, the banned member may have been 34 using a false identity or may pose a significant risk of attempting to 35 obtain money from other members through fraudulent means; 36 (3) that a member should never send money or personal financial infor- 37 mation to another member; and 38 (4) a hyperlink to online information that clearly and conspicuously 39 addresses the subject of how to avoid being defrauded by another member 40 of an online dating service. 41 (b) The notification required by paragraph (a) of this subdivision 42 shall be: 43 (1) clear and conspicuous; 44 (2) by e-mail, text message, or other appropriate means of communi- 45 cation; and 46 (3) sent within twenty-four hours after the fraud ban, or at a later 47 time if the service has determined, based on an analysis of effective 48 messaging, that a different time is more effective, but in no event 49 later than three days after the fraud ban. 50 (c) An online dating service shall not be liable to any person, other 51 than the state of New York, for disclosing to any member that it has 52 banned a member, the user name or account identifier of the banned 53 member, or the reasons for the online dating service's decision to ban 54 such member in accordance with this subdivision where such disclosure 55 does not contain the personally identifying information of the person. 56 An online dating service also shall not be liable to any person, other
A. 1057--A 6 1 than the state of New York, for the decisions regarding whether to ban a 2 member, or how or when to notify a member pursuant to this subdivision. 3 (d) This section does not diminish or adversely affect the protections 4 for online dating services that are afforded in 47 USC 230. 5 § 2. This act shall take effect on the sixtieth day after it shall 6 have become a law.