SUBPART K
44
Section
Legislative findings. The legislature finds that law
45 enforcement booking information and photographs, otherwise
known as
46 "mugshots," are published on the
internet and other public platforms
47 with impunity. An individual's mugshot is displayed publicly
even if the
48 arrest does not lead to a conviction, or the conviction
is later
49 expunged, sealed, or pardoned. This practice
presents an unacceptable
50 invasion of the individual's personal privacy. While there is a
well-es51 tablished Constitutional right for the press and the public
to publish
S.
1505
177
A. 2005
1.

1 government records which are in the
public domain or that have been
2 lawfully accessed, arrest and booking information have not been
found by
3 courts to have the same public right of access as
criminal court
4 proceedings or court filings. Therefore, each state can set
access to
5 this information through its Freedom of
Information laws. The federal
6 government has already limited access to booking
photographs through
7 privacy formulations in its Freedom of Information Act, and the
legisla8 ture hereby declares that New York will
follow the same principle to
9 protect its residents from this unwarranted invasion of
personal priva10 cy, absent a specific law enforcement purpose, such as
disclosure of a
11 photograph to alert victims or witnesses to come forward to
aid in a
12 criminal investigation.
13
§ 2. Paragraph (b) of subdivision 2 of section 89 of the
public offi14 cers law, as amended by section 11 of part U of chapter 61 of
the laws
15 of 2011, is amended to read as follows:
16
(b) An unwarranted invasion of personal
privacy includes, but shall
17 not be limited to:
18
i. disclosure of employment, medical or credit histories or
personal
19 references of applicants for employment;
20
ii. disclosure of items involving the medical or personal
records of a

 21 client or patient in a medical facility;
22
iii. sale or release of lists of names
and addresses if such lists
23 would be used for solicitation or fund-raising purposes;
24
iv. disclosure of information of a personal nature when
disclosure
25 would result in economic or personal hardship to the
subject party and
26 such information is not relevant to the work of the agency
requesting or
27 maintaining it;
28
v. disclosure of information of a personal nature reported
in confi29 dence to an agency and not relevant to the ordinary work of
such agency;
30
vi. information of a personal nature contained in
a workers' compen31 sation record, except as provided by section one hundred
ten-a of the
32 workers' compensation law; [or]
33
vii. disclosure of electronic contact information, such
as an e-mail
34 address or a social network username, that has been
collected from a
35 taxpayer under section one hundred four of the real property
tax law; or
36
viii. disclosure of law enforcement booking information about
an indi37 vidual, including booking photographs,
unless public release of such
38 information will serve a specific law enforcement purpose and
disclosure
39 is not precluded by any state or federal laws.
40
§ 3. This act shall take effect immediately.