Bill Text: NY S07112 | 2023-2024 | General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Creates the office of emerging technology; provides for its functions and duties; requires the office to submit a report to the governor and the legislature.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Introduced) 2024-01-03 - REFERRED TO INTERNET AND TECHNOLOGY [S07112 Detail]

Download: New_York-2023-S07112-Introduced.html

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                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                          7112

                               2023-2024 Regular Sessions

                    IN SENATE

                                      May 18, 2023
                                       ___________

        Introduced  by Sen. HOYLMAN-SIGAL -- read twice and ordered printed, and
          when printed to be committed to the Committee on Internet and Technol-
          ogy

        AN ACT to amend the executive law, in relation to creating the office of
          emerging technology and providing for its functions and duties

          The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and  Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:

     1    Section  1.  The executive law is amended by adding a new article 49-C
     2  to read as follows:
     3                                ARTICLE 49-C
     4                        OFFICE OF EMERGING TECHNOLOGY
     5  Section 996-a. Office of emerging technology.
     6          996-b. Functions, powers and duties of the office.
     7    § 996-a. Office of emerging technology.  1.  The  office  of  emerging
     8  technology is hereby created within the executive department to have and
     9  exercise  the functions, powers and duties provided by the provisions of
    10  this article and any other provision of law. For purposes of this  arti-
    11  cle, "the office" means the office of emerging technology.
    12    2. The office shall be governed by a board consisting of the following
    13  thirteen members to be appointed as follows for two year terms:
    14    (a)  the  director,  who  shall  be appointed by the governor with the
    15  consent and approval of the senate;
    16    (b) six members appointed by the temporary president  of  the  senate,
    17  including  three  from  the  majority  party and three from the minority
    18  party; and
    19    (c) six members appointed by the speaker of  the  assembly,  including
    20  three from the majority party and three from the minority party.
    21    3. Each member shall have expertise and experience related to at least
    22  one of the following fields, disciplines, or areas:
    23    (a) the use and function of both existing and emerging technology;
    24    (b) data privacy and data security;

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD11502-01-3
        S. 7112                             2

     1    (c)  civil  rights,  civil  liberties,  and due process and procedural
     2  rights; and
     3    (d) legal representation of low-income individuals.
     4    4.  The  director shall not act in any capacity for, any organization,
     5  agency, or institutions with which the  office  makes  any  contract  or
     6  other arrangement under this article.
     7    5.  The  board shall meet at least four times each year and may estab-
     8  lish its own rules and procedures concerning the conduct of its meetings
     9  and other affairs not inconsistent with law.
    10    § 996-b. Functions, powers and duties of  the  office.  1.  The  basic
    11  function  of  the  office shall be to act as the official state planning
    12  and coordinating office for changes in policy, practice  and  allocation
    13  of  state  resources  around emerging technologies, to advise and assist
    14  the state agencies in developing policies,  plans  and  programs  around
    15  emerging  technologies,  and  to provide early indications of beneficial
    16  and adverse impacts of the applications of emerging  technology  and  to
    17  develop  and coordinate information which may assist the legislature and
    18  the state in responding to emerging technologies. In carrying  out  such
    19  function, the office shall:
    20    (a)  Identify  existing  or probable impacts of emerging technology or
    21  technological programs.
    22    (b) Where possible, ascertain cause-and-effect  relationships  of  the
    23  use of emerging technologies.
    24    (c) Identify alternative technological methods of implementing specif-
    25  ic programs.
    26    (d) Identify alternative programs for achieving requisite goals.
    27    (e)  Examine  current  and proposed laws, rules, regulations, programs
    28  and policies relating to the use of emerging technologies.
    29    (f) Examine currently available  emerging  technologies  and  evaluate
    30  their  effectiveness,  efficacy  and accuracy, provided that such evalu-
    31  ation shall include the use  of  representative  datasets  according  to
    32  targeted   populations,   and   disaggregated  testing  for  demographic
    33  subgroups by age, gender identity, and race.
    34    (g) Propose a comprehensive framework of  recommendations  for  legis-
    35  lation,  regulations  and  standards  regarding the use of such emerging
    36  technologies, if deemed appropriate including but not limited to:
    37    (i) permissible uses and purposes for use;
    38    (ii) prohibited uses and purposes for use;
    39    (iii) minimum standards for accuracy that emerging  technologies  must
    40  achieve  in  order  to be authorized for use by the state and/or public,
    41  and auditing requirements to ensure compliance with those standards;
    42    (iv) standards for use,  management,  and  protection  of  information
    43  derived  from  the use of emerging technology, including but not limited
    44  to data retention, sharing, access and audit trails;
    45    (v) rigorous protections for due process,  privacy,  free  speech  and
    46  association, and racial, gender, and religious equity;
    47    (vi)  training  requirements  for  state  personnel  authorized to use
    48  emerging technology;
    49    (vii) procedures to address instances in which a person is  wrongfully
    50  harmed  based  on inaccurate information derived from use of an emerging
    51  technology; and
    52    (viii) disclosure requirements for broad public transparency  as  well
    53  as discovery procedures.
    54    (h) Evaluate potential benefits and harms of the use of emerging tech-
    55  nologies,  taking  into  account  and analyzing the impact of the use of
    56  such systems on the workforce, human safety, inequality, governance, and
        S. 7112                             3

     1  impact on minorities, women, young people, seniors, lesbian, gay, bisex-
     2  ual, transgender and gender-nonconforming  individuals  and  individuals
     3  with disabilities.
     4    (i) Make estimates and comparisons of the impacts of alternative meth-
     5  ods and programs.
     6    (j) Present findings of completed analyses to the appropriate legisla-
     7  tive authorities.
     8    (k)  Identify  areas  where  additional research or data collection is
     9  required to provide adequate support for the assessments  and  estimates
    10  described in this section.
    11    2.  Assessment  activities  undertaken  by the office may be initiated
    12  upon the request of:
    13    (a) The director of the office with majority approval of the board;
    14    (b) The chair of any committee of either house of the legislature,  or
    15  of  any  committee  of  the  legislature,  acting for themself or at the
    16  request of the ranking minority member or a majority  of  the  committee
    17  members; or
    18    (c) The commissioner of any state agency.
    19    3.  The  office is authorized to hold public hearings and meetings and
    20  to consult with any relevant stakeholders it deems appropriate or neces-
    21  sary to seek assistance, data, or other information that will enable the
    22  office to carry out its powers and duties.
    23    4. The director may appoint assistants, and other officers and employ-
    24  ees, committees and consultants as  the  director  may  deem  necessary,
    25  prescribe their powers and duties, and fix their compensation within the
    26  amounts appropriated.
    27    5.  The  office may request and receive from any department, division,
    28  board, bureau, commission or other agency of the state  any  information
    29  and  resources  that  will  enable  the office to properly carry out its
    30  functions, powers and duties.
    31    6. The director may enter contracts or other arrangements  as  may  be
    32  necessary  for  the  conduct  of  the work of the office with any agency
    33  within the state, or with any person, firm, association, corporation, or
    34  educational institution with  or  without  reimbursement  and  may  make
    35  advance,  progress  and other payments which relate to the duties of the
    36  office.
    37    7. The office shall submit a report to the governor,  the  speaker  of
    38  the  assembly and the temporary president of the senate, and any assess-
    39  ment requester no later than one year after the effective date  of  this
    40  article  and annually thereafter, such report shall contain, at minimum,
    41  a summary of the findings of the office required by  this  section.  The
    42  report  shall  also  be  published  on  the website of the office of the
    43  governor.
    44    § 2. This act shall take effect one year after it shall have become  a
    45  law.