EFF Joins 18 Civil Rights Organizations Calling on Governor Hochul to Reject the Stealth Crawler Prohibition Act
Summary
The EFF and 18 civil rights organizations are urging New York Governor Kathy Hochul to reject the Stealth Crawler Prohibition Act (Senate Bill 9934A). They argue that the bill, despite its stated aim of protecting journalism, would harm free expression and privacy by requiring web crawlers to disclose their identity and purpose, potentially deanonymizing and criminalizing automated web access.
IFF Assessment
This legislation is considered bad news for defenders as it could hinder legitimate research and cybersecurity activities that rely on anonymous web crawling.
Defender Context
This article highlights a legislative effort that could impact cybersecurity research and defensive tooling. Defenders often rely on automated tools to gather threat intelligence and analyze public web data, and such legislation could restrict these capabilities by requiring disclosure and potentially leading to the unmasking of researchers.