HB 1377 2024
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hb1377-00
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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
501.1736, 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 a definition; providing for 7
future legislative review and repeal of the exemption; 8
providing a statement of public necessity; providing a 9
contingent effective date. 10
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Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 12
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Section 1. Subsection (8) of section 501.1736, Florida 14
Statutes, as created by HB 1 or similar legislation, 2024 15
Regular Session, is renumbered as subsection (9) and a new 16
subsection (8) is added to that section to read: 17
501.1736 Social media use for minors. — 18
(8)(a) All information received by the department pursuant 19
to a notification of a violation under this section, or received 20
by the department pursuant to an inv estigation by the department 21
or 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 1377 2024
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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 duti es 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 an im proper 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 respon sibilities. 40
(c) Upon completion of an investigation or once an 41
investigation ceases to be active, 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
HB 1377 2024
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hb1377-00
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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 social media platform. 51
5. Information that would disclose the proprietary 52
information of a social media platform. 53
(d) For purposes of this section, the term "proprietary 54
information" means information that: 55
1. Is owned or controlled by the social media platform. 56
2. Is intended to be priv ate and is treated by the social 57
media platform as private because disclosure would harm the 58
social media platform or its business operations. 59
3. Has not been disclosed except as required by law or a 60
private agreement that provides that the information w ill not be 61
released to the public. 62
4. Is not publicly available or otherwise readily 63
ascertainable through proper means from another source in the 64
same configuration as received by the department. 65
5. Includes: 66
a. Trade secrets as defined in s. 688.00 2. 67
b. Competitive interests, the disclosure of which would 68
impair the competitive advantage of the social media platform 69
who is the subject of the information. 70
(e) This section is subject to the Open Government Sunset 71
Review Act in accordance with s. 1 19.15 and shall stand repealed 72
on October 2, 2029, unless reviewed and saved from repeal 73
through reenactment by the Legislature. 74
Section 2. The Legislature finds that it is a public 75
HB 1377 2024
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necessity that all information received by the Department of 76
Legal Affairs pursuant to a notification of a violation of s. 77
501.1736, Florida Statutes, or received by the department 78
pursuant to an investigation by the department or a law 79
enforcement agency of a violation of that section, be made 80
confidential and exempt from s . 119.07(1), Florida Statutes, and 81
s. 24(a), Article I of the State Constitution for the following 82
reasons: 83
(1) A notification of a violation of s. 501.1736, Florida 84
Statutes, may result in an investigation of such violation. The 85
premature release of suc h information could frustrate or thwart 86
the investigation and impair the ability of the department to 87
effectively and efficiently administer s. 501.1736, Florida 88
Statutes. In addition, release of such information before 89
completion of an active investigatio n could jeopardize the 90
ongoing investigation. 91
(2) Release of information to which another public records 92
exemption applies once an investigation is completed or ceases 93
to be active would undo the specific statutory exemption 94
protecting that information. 95
(3) An investigation of a violation of s. 501.1736, 96
Florida Statutes, is likely to result in the gathering of 97
sensitive personal information, including identification 98
numbers, unique identifiers, professional or employment -related 99
information, and person al financial information. Such 100
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information could be used for the purpose of identity theft. The 101
release of such information could subject possible victims of 102
data privacy violations to further harm. 103
(4) Notices received by the department and information 104
received during an investigation of a violation of s. 501.1736, 105
Florida Statutes, are likely to contain proprietary information. 106
Such information, including trade secrets, derives independent, 107
economic value, actual or potential, from being generally 108
unknown to, and not readily ascertainable by, other persons who 109
might obtain economic value from its disclosure or use. Allowing 110
public access to proprietary information, including a trade 111
secret, through a public records request could destroy the value 112
of the proprietary information and cause a financial loss to the 113
social media platform. Release of such information could give 114
business competitors an unfair advantage. 115
(5) Information received by the department may contain a 116
computer forensic report or informa tion that could reveal 117
weaknesses in the data security of a social media platform. The 118
release of this information could result in the identification 119
of vulnerabilities in the cybersecurity system of the social 120
media platform and be used to harm the social media platform and 121
clients. 122
(6) The harm that may result from the release of 123
information received by the department pursuant to a 124
notification or investigation by the department or a law 125
HB 1377 2024
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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
enforcement agency of a violation of s. 501.1736, Florida 126
Statutes, could impair the effective and efficient 127
administration of the investigation and thus, outweighs the 128
public benefit that may be derived from the disclosure of the 129
information. 130
Section 3. This act shall take effect on the same date 131
that HB 1 or similar legislation takes effect , if such 132
legislation is adopted in the same legislative session or an 133
extension thereof and becomes a law. 134