New York’s Geofencing Ban: A Game Changer for Advertisers

The New Law on Geofencing

New York has recently passed a new provision in its state budget that prohibits advertisers from geofencing healthcare facilities. This law, which was passed in May, has made it increasingly difficult for advertisers who want to use location or healthcare data to maintain performance while still abiding by the law.

Under this new law, corporations are prohibited from creating a geofence within 1,850 feet of hospitals in New York state to deliver an advertisement, build consumer profiles, or infer health status. This means that advertisers can no longer target ads based on the location of potential customers near healthcare facilities.

Implications for Advertisers

The implications of this law are far-reaching, particularly because of how densely packed New York City is. Theoretically, an advertiser could geofence around another business that is proximate to a health care facility and still fall within the law’s prohibited radius, even if the advertiser had no interest in healthcare.

The law defines healthcare facilities as any governmental or private entity providing medical care or services, which could encompass many establishments on a New York City block.

This means that many businesses could potentially fall within the prohibited radius, making it difficult for advertisers to target their ads effectively.