New York Stealth Crawler Bill Reaches Gov. Hochul as EFF Warns of Risks to Research and Privacy

EFF says the measure could threaten anonymous web crawling used in investigative reporting, academic research, cybersecurity, and other public-interest work.

New York’s legislature has passed the NY Stealth Crawler Protection Act and sent it to Governor Kathy Hochul, according to the Electronic Frontier Foundation, placing the state at the center of a broader fight over anonymous web crawling, publisher control, and online privacy.

EFF describes “stealth crawlers” as automated tools that access and collect public web data without disclosing the identity of the person or organization using them. The group argues that such tools support investigative reporting, academic research, cybersecurity protection, and other public-interest uses of the open web.

Publishers seeking new authority to identify crawlers have backed legislation aimed at anonymous automated access, EFF says. The organization contends those proposals could undermine user privacy and valuable research without directly addressing the concerns they are intended to solve.

The stakes extend beyond routine bot traffic. Journalists, researchers, watchdog groups, and security professionals may use unidentified automated tools to gather information from public websites, including information needed to scrutinize powerful companies and institutions.

EFF points to investigative reporting as one example. The group says anonymous crawlers have been used to examine potentially anti-competitive conduct by technology companies, including how platforms present products and search results to consumers.

The organization also warns that forcing crawler operators to identify themselves could make it easier for websites to block or treat those tools differently. That could affect researchers, journalists, activists, cybersecurity teams, and privacy-tool providers whose work depends on observing what an ordinary visitor can see online.

The bill is now awaiting Hochul’s action. EFF expects similar proposals to emerge in other states and potentially in Congress, raising a wider question over whether publishers can gain more control over automated traffic without restricting public-interest uses of the open web.