A New York City COVID-era law requiring food delivery companies to share various customer data with restaurants is unconstitutional, a federal judge ruled on Tuesday, marking a win for companies including DoorDash Grubhub, and Uber Eats.
The ruling was handed down by U.S. District Judge Analisa Torres in the Southern District of New York, who found that the New York City law violated the First Amendment by improperly regulating commercial speech.
While the government can freely regulate commercial speech that concerns unlawful activity or is misleading, New York City’s law does not concern such activity, the judge said.
“In sum, when the customer data law requires that delivery services send customer data to restaurants, it compels speech that falls within the First Amendment’s protection,” Torres wrote in her 31-page decision….