OMNY Privacy Act
SIGN-ON LETTER FOR THE OMNY PRIVACY ACT
A.__ Assemblymember ____/S.6142 Senator Fernandez
February 2023
We, the undersigned organizations, support the OMNY Privacy Act (A.__ Assemblymember __/S.6142 Fernandez) and urge the legislature to pass, and the Governor to sign, this bill.
New York City is in the process of shifting its public transit system to a payment method known as “OMNY.” OMNY allows New Yorkers to swipe their credit cards, or an OMNY card linked to their bank account, to ride the subway or bus. While OMNY has its advantages, the ability to link an individual to a complete history of their transportation is an invasion of privacy. Worse, the OMNY terms of use have no provision to prevent either the MTA or the private vendors it employs from sharing this data directly with NYPD or ICE.
New Yorkers have a right to travel through the city without being tracked by the government and private entities. Cell phones, and their location history, can be turned off. But if a subway ride is tied to one’s bank account, tracing movements across the city becomes trivial. Nobody’s whereabouts should be turned over to the police and ICE. In light of New York’s commitment to being a sanctuary, communities particularly affected by this could include undocumented New Yorkers, individuals coming from out-of-state for abortion care or gender affirming care, and political protesters, among others.
Furthermore, not every New Yorker has a credit card or a bank account. Electronic payment systems – whether they accept credit cards directly or specialized cards tied to bank accounts – exclude individuals who do not have access to these financial services. This excludes the most vulnerable New Yorkers, particularly poor and undocumented, and disproportionately Black, brown, and immigrant New Yorkers. These are also the New Yorkers who rely most heavily on public transportation.
The OMNY Privacy Act prohibits the MTA, other state public transit authorities, their vendors, and those with whom they share data from sharing individuals’ fare payment data with law enforcement without a warrant. It also requires the MTA and other state public transit authorities to include a cash payment option for transit cards in each station, with a capped cost.
By passing this bill, New York will help create a transit system that is safe, affordable, accessible, and privacy-preserving. For these reasons, we urge the legislature to pass and the Governor to sign the OMNY Privacy Act (A.__ Assemblymember ___/S.6142 Senator Fernandez).