EFF Joins 18 Civil Rights Organizations Calling on Governor Hochul to Reject the Stealth Crawler Prohibition Act
EFF and 18 civil rights organizations urged New York Governor Kathy Hochul to veto the Stealth Crawler Prohibition Act, arguing it would harm free expression and digital privacy by criminalizing anonymous web crawling used for journalism and research.
EFF and 18 civil rights groups urged New York Governor Kathy Hochul to veto Senate Bill 9934A, the Stealth Crawler Prohibition Act. The letter argues the bill harms free expression by criminalizing anonymous web crawling, threatening digital privacy and public-interest work like investigative journalism, academic research, and cybersecurity. Examples include The Markup and ProPublica using anonymous crawlers to expose tech anti-competitive practices, and EFF’s Privacy Badger identifying trackers. The groups say the bill targets anonymity rather than server strain, and would chill vital research. They call for narrow technical solutions instead.