Requires telephone corporations to create a subsection on their websites with information and materials pertaining to victims of domestic violence and opting-out of a bundle telephone contract with such telephone corporation due to a person's status as a victim of domestic violence.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
10294
IN SENATE
May 11, 2026
___________
Introduced by Sen. PERSAUD -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
printed to be committed to the Committee on Energy and Telecommuni-
cations
AN ACT to amend the public service law, in relation to requiring tele-
phone corporations to create a subsection on their websites with
information and materials pertaining to victims of domestic violence
and opting-out of a bundle telephone contract with such telephone
corporation due to a person's status as a victim of domestic violence
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Section 2 of the public service law is amended by adding
2 three new subdivisions 18-a, 30, and 31 to read as follows:
3 18-a. The term "shared telephone line", when used in this chapter,
4 includes conduits, ducts, poles, wires, cables, cross-arms, receivers,
5 transmitters, instruments, machines, appliances and all devices, real
6 estate, easements, apparatus, property and routes used, operated or
7 owned by any telephone corporation to facilitate the business of afford-
8 ing communication up to and including the demarcation point located on a
9 subscriber's premises in which the contract for said telephone line is
10 shared amongst a group of individuals with one individual acting as the
11 primary account holder and the ability to monitor or restrict the data,
12 talk, and text usage of all lines under the contract.
13 30. The terms "victim of domestic violence" and "survivor", when used
14 in this chapter, shall mean any person as described in subdivision one
15 of section four hundred fifty-nine-a of the social services law.
16 31. The term "line separation", when used in this chapter, shall refer
17 to the separation or removal of one or more individuals from a shared
18 telephone line contract held with a telephone corporation.
19 § 2. Subdivision 8 of section 91 of the public service law, as amended
20 by chapter 42 of the laws of 2023, is amended to read as follows:
21 8. Every telephone corporation, as defined in this chapter, shall
22 allow a person who is under contract including, but not limited to, a
23 multi-year contract or bundle contract with such telephone corporation,
24 to opt-out of such contract without fee, penalty or charge when such
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD15689-02-6
S. 10294 2
1 person is a victim of domestic violence and provides [an attestation] a
2 self-attestation in writing that they no longer wish to be a party to
3 such contract due to their status as a victim of domestic violence. Such
4 telephone corporation may not require such person to disclose confiden-
5 tial information or details relating to such person's status as a victim
6 of domestic violence, as a condition of permitting such person to opt-
7 out of such contract. Such telephone corporation shall not require such
8 person to submit any other documentation, information, or anything other
9 than such a written self-attestation to certify that such person wishes
10 to leave a contract with such telephone corporation due to their status
11 as a victim of domestic violence. Further, such telephone corporation
12 may not make release from such contract contingent on: (a) maintaining
13 contractual or billing responsibility of a separated line with the
14 provider; (b) approval of separation by the primary account holder, if
15 the primary account holder is not the person making such request; (c) a
16 prohibition or limitation on number portability or a request to change
17 phone numbers; or (d) a prohibition or limitation on the separation of
18 lines as a result of arrears accrued by the account. Such telephone
19 corporation shall release such person from such contract no later than
20 [seven] two business days after receiving such opt-out request. Such
21 telephone corporation shall dispose of information submitted by such
22 person no later than thirty days after receiving such information in a
23 manner as to maintain confidentiality of such information. A claim for
24 opting-out of such contract without charge shall be made in good faith.
25 Such telephone corporation shall waive the otherwise applicable fee,
26 penalty or charge for such person requesting to opt-out of such
27 contract.
28 § 3. Section 91 of the public service law is amended by adding a new
29 subdivision 13-a to read as follows:
30 13-a. (a) Every telephone corporation shall create a subsection in the
31 support menu on their website titled "Domestic Violence Resources" that
32 shall include a link to an information page that shall include, but not
33 shall not be limited to, the following information and resources:
34 (i) A paragraph which shall provide a brief, clear, and concise expla-
35 nation of the options afforded to a domestic violence survivor by subdi-
36 vision eight of this section and/or the Safe Connections Act of 2022.
37 (ii) A self-attestation form which satisfies the requirements of
38 subdivision eight of this section and paragraph (b) of this subdivision.
39 A survivor shall be able to complete and submit such form on the website
40 to remove themselves and their dependents from the shared telephone
41 line. A survivor shall also be able to download the self-attestation
42 form from the website, request to be sent the self-attestation form in
43 the mail from the website, and submit the self-attestation form through
44 the mail or in-person.
45 (iii) Specific instructions regarding how the survivor may opt-out of
46 the shared telephone line including the required information that the
47 survivor must include in their written self-attestation form and the
48 manner in which they must complete and submit the form to the telephone
49 corporation. The telephone corporation shall not require the survivor to
50 complete this process in-person and shall offer an option to separate
51 lines via a mailed or digital submission of the self-attestation form
52 and/or over the phone with a customer service representative.
53 (iv) A device tracking disclaimer that informs the survivor that some
54 services and devices have location tracking features and that separating
55 their line from a shared telephone line does not disable these features.
S. 10294 3
1 (v) A section that informs the survivor that their documentation shall
2 be processed no later than two business days following the submission of
3 the required documentation.
4 (b) The self-attestation form shall only require the survivor to
5 provide the following information:
6 (i) Their name, mailing address, and the county in which they reside.
7 (ii) The impacted phone number or numbers under the shared telephone
8 line contract that they wish to separate.
9 (iii) The account holder name associated with such phone numbers.
10 (iv) The device make and model and the IMEI, SIM or other identifying
11 device information associated with such phone numbers.
12 (v) Whether they wish to start a new account under their name with the
13 phone numbers with that telephone corporation, transfer the phone
14 numbers to an existing account number with the telephone corporation, or
15 port-out the phone numbers to another carrier and to an account in the
16 survivor's name.
17 § 4. This act shall take effect on the ninetieth day after it shall
18 have become a law.
