HB 1549 2023
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
A bill to be entitled 1
An act relating to public records; amending s. 2
501.173, F.S.; providing an exemption from public 3
records requirements for information relating to 4
investigations by the Department of Legal Affairs and 5
law enforcement agencies of certain data privacy 6
violations; providing for future legislative review 7
and repeal of the exemption; providing a statement of 8
public necessity; providing a contingent effective 9
date. 10
11
Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 12
13
Section 1. Subsection (14) is added to section 501.173, 14
Florida Statutes, as created by HB 1547, 2023 Regular Session, 15
to read: 16
501.173 Consumer data privacy. — 17
(14) PUBLIC RECORDS EXEMPTION .— 18
(a) All information received by the department pursuant to 19
a notification of a violation under this section, or received by 20
the department pursuant to an investigation by the department or 21
a law enforcement agency of a violation of this section, is 22
confidential and exempt from s. 119.07(1) and s. 24(a), Art. I 23
of the State Constitution, until such time as the investigation 24
is completed or ceases to be active. This exemption shall be 25
HB 1549 2023
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
construed in conformity with s. 119.071(2)(c). 26
(b) During an active investigation, information made 27
confidential and exempt pursuant to paragraph (a) may be 28
disclosed by the department: 29
1. In the furtherance of its official duties and 30
responsibilities; 31
2. For print, publication, or broadcast if the department 32
determines that such release would assist in notifying the 33
public or locating or identifying a person that the department 34
believes to be a victim of a data breach or improper use or 35
disposal of customer records, except that information made 36
confidential and exempt by paragraph (c) may not be released 37
pursuant to this subparagraph; or 38
3. To another governmental entity in the furtherance of 39
its official duties and responsibilities. 40
(c) Upon completion of an investigation or once an 41
investigation ceases to be activ e, the following information 42
received by the department shall remain confidential and exempt 43
from s. 119.07(1) and s. 24(a), Art. I of the State 44
Constitution: 45
1. All information to which another public records 46
exemption applies. 47
2. Personal information . 48
3. A computer forensic report. 49
4. Information that would otherwise reveal weaknesses in 50
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
the data security of a controller, processor, or third party. 51
5. Information that would disclose the proprietary 52
information of a controller, processor, or third party. 53
(d) For purposes of this subsection, the term "proprietary 54
information" means information that: 55
1. Is owned or controlled by the controller, processor, or 56
third party. 57
2. Is intended to be private and is treated by the 58
controller, processor, or third party as private because 59
disclosure would harm the controller, processor, or third party 60
or its business operations. 61
3. Has not been disclosed except as required by law or a 62
private agreement that provides that the information will not be 63
released to the public. 64
4. Is not publicly available or otherwise readily 65
ascertainable through proper means from another source in the 66
same configuration as received by the department. 67
5. Includes: 68
a. Trade secrets as defined in s. 688.002. 69
b. Competitive interests, the disclosure of which would 70
impair the competitive advantage of the controller, processor, 71
or third party who is the subject of the information. 72
(e) This subsection is subject to the Open Government 73
Sunset Review Act in accordanc e with s. 119.15 and shall stand 74
repealed on October 2, 2028, unless reviewed and saved from 75
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
repeal through reenactment by the Legislature. 76
Section 2. The Legislature finds that it is a public 77
necessity that all information received by the Department o f 78
Legal Affairs pursuant to a notification of a violation of s. 79
501.173, Florida Statutes, or received by the department 80
pursuant to an investigation by the department or a law 81
enforcement agency of a violation of s. 501.173, Florida 82
Statutes, be made conf idential and exempt from s. 119.07(1), 83
Florida Statutes, and s. 24(a), Article I of the State 84
Constitution for the following reasons: 85
(1) A notification of a violation of s. 501.173, Florida 86
Statutes, may result in an investigation of such violation. The 87
premature release of such information could frustrate or thwart 88
the investigation and impair the ability of the department to 89
effectively and efficiently administer s. 501.173, Florida 90
Statutes. In addition, release of such information before 91
completion of an active investigation could jeopardize the 92
ongoing investigation. 93
(2) Release of information to which another public record 94
exemption applies once an investigation is completed or ceases 95
to be active would undo the specific statutory exemption 96
protecting that information. 97
(3) An investigation of a violation of s. 501.173, Florida 98
Statutes, is likely to result in the gathering of sensitive 99
personal information, including identification numbers, unique 100
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identifiers, professional or employment -related information, and 101
personal financial information. Such information could be used 102
for the purpose of identity theft. The release of such 103
information could subject possible victims of data privacy 104
violations to further harm. 105
(4) Notices received by the depar tment and information 106
received during an investigation of a violation of s. 501.173, 107
Florida Statutes, are likely to contain proprietary information. 108
Such information, including trade secrets, derives independent, 109
economic value, actual, or potential, from being generally 110
unknown to, and not readily ascertainable by, other persons who 111
might obtain economic value from its disclosure or use. Allowing 112
public access to proprietary information, including a trade 113
secret, through a public records request could des troy the value 114
of the proprietary information and cause a financial loss to the 115
controller, processor, or third party submitting the 116
information. Release of such information could give business 117
competitors an unfair advantage and weaken the position of the 118
entity supplying the proprietary information in the marketplace. 119
(5) Information received by the department may contain a 120
computer forensic report or information that could reveal 121
weaknesses in the data security of a controller, processor, or 122
third party. The release of this information could result in the 123
identification of vulnerabilities in the cybersecurity system of 124
the controller, processor, or third party and be used to harm 125
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
the controller, processor, or third party and clients. 126
(6) The harm that may result from the release of 127
information received by the department pursuant to a 128
notification or investigation by the department or a law 129
enforcement agency of a violation of s. 501.173, Florida 130
Statutes, could impair the effective and efficient 131
administration of the investigation and thus, outweighs the 132
public benefit that may be derived from the disclosure of the 133
information. 134
Section 3. This act shall take effect on the same date 135
that HB 1547 or similar legislation takes effect , if such 136
legislation is adopted in the same legislative session or an 137
extension thereof and becomes a law. 138