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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
501.174, F.S.; providing an exemption from public 3
records requirements for information relating to 4
investigations by the Department of Legal Affairs of 5
certain artificial intelligence transparency 6
violations; providing a definition; providing for 7
future legislative review and repeal of the exemption; 8
providing a statement of public necessity; providing 9
an effective date. 10
11
Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 12
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Section 1. Subsection (8) of section 501.174, Florida 14
Statutes, as created by HB 1459 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
501.174 Artificial intelligence transparency. — 18
(8)(a) All information held by the department pursuant to 19
a notification of a violation under this section or an 20
investigation of a violation of this section is confidential and 21
exempt from s. 119.07(1) and s. 24(a), Art. I of the State 22
Constitution, until such time as the investigation is completed 23
or ceases to be active. This exemption shall be construed in 24
conformity with s. 119.071(2)(c). 25
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(b) During an active investigation, information made 26
confidential and exempt pursuant to paragraph (a) may be 27
disclosed by the department: 28
1. In the furtherance of its official duties and 29
responsibilities; 30
2. For print, publication, or broadcast if the departm ent 31
determines that such release would assist in notifying the 32
public or locating or identifying a person that the department 33
believes to be a victim of an improper use or disposal of 34
customer records, except that information made confidential and 35
exempt by paragraph (c) may not be released pursuant to this 36
subparagraph; or 37
3. To another governmental entity in the furtherance of 38
its official duties and responsibilities. 39
(c) Upon completion of an investigation or once an 40
investigation ceases to be active , the following information 41
held by the department shall remain confidential and exempt from 42
s. 119.07(1) and s. 24(a), Art. I of the State Constitution: 43
1. Information that is otherwise confidential or exempt 44
from s. 119.07(1) and s. 24(a), Art. I of th e State 45
Constitution. 46
2. Personal identifying information. 47
3. A computer forensic report. 48
4. Information that would otherwise reveal weaknesses in 49
the data security of an entity or person. 50
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5. Information that would disclose the proprietary 51
information of an entity or person. 52
(d) For purposes of this section, the term "proprietary 53
information" means information that: 54
1. Is owned or controlled by the entity or person. 55
2. Is intended to be private and is treated by the entity 56
or person as private because disclosure would harm the entity or 57
person or its business operations. 58
3. Has not been disclosed except as required by law or a 59
private agreement that provides that the information may not be 60
released to the public. 61
4. Is not publicly available or otherwise readily 62
ascertainable through proper means from another source in the 63
same configuration as received by the department. 64
5. Reveals competitive interests, the disclosure of which 65
would impair the competitive advantage of the entity or person 66
who is the subject of the information. 67
(e) This subsection is subject to the Open Government 68
Sunset Review Act in accordance with s. 119.15 and shall stand 69
repealed on October 2, 2029, unless reviewed and saved from 70
repeal through reenactment by the Legislature. 71
Section 2. The Legislature finds that it is a public 72
necessity that all information held by the Department of Legal 73
Affairs pursuant to a notification of a violation of s. 501.174, 74
Florida Statutes, or an investigation of a violation of that 75
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section, be made confidential and exempt from s. 119.07(1), 76
Florida Statutes, and s. 24(a), Article I of the State 77
Constitution for the following reasons: 78
(1) A notification of a violation of s. 501.174, Florida 79
Statutes, may result in an investigation of such violation. The 80
premature release of such information could frustrate or thwart 81
the investigation and impair the ability of the department to 82
effectively and efficiently administer s. 501.174, Florida 83
Statutes. In addition, relea se of such information before 84
completion of an active investigation could jeopardize the 85
ongoing investigation. 86
(2) Release of information that is otherwise confidential 87
or exempt from public records requirements once an investigation 88
is completed or ceases to be active would undo the specific 89
statutory exemption protecting that information; thus, 90
clarifying that any protections currently afforded to such 91
information are not removed. 92
(3) An investigation of a violation of s. 501.174, Florida 93
Statutes, is likely to result in the gathering of sensitive 94
personal identifying information, which could include 95
identification numbers, unique identifiers, professional or 96
employment-related information, and personal financial 97
information. Such information could be used for the purpose of 98
identity theft. The release of such information could subject 99
families to possible privacy violations, as it would reveal 100
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information of a sensitive personal nature. 101
(4) Notices received by the department and information 102
generated during an investigation of a violation of s. 501.174, 103
Florida Statutes, are likely to contain proprietary information. 104
Such information derives independent, economic value, actual or 105
potential, from being generally unknown to, and not readily 106
ascertainable by, other persons who might obtain economic value 107
from its disclosure or use. Allowing public access to 108
proprietary information through a public records request could 109
destroy the value of the proprietary information and cause a 110
financial loss to the ent ity or person. Release of such 111
information could give business competitors an unfair advantage. 112
(5) Information held by the department may contain a 113
computer forensic report or information that could reveal 114
weaknesses in the data security of an entity or person. The 115
release of this information could result in the identification 116
of vulnerabilities in the cybersecurity system of the entity or 117
person and be used to harm the entity or person and clients. 118
(6) The harm that may result from the release of 119
information held by the department pursuant to a notification or 120
investigation of a violation of s. 501.174, Florida Statutes, 121
could impair the effective and efficient administration of the 122
investigation and, thus, outweighs the public benefit that may 123
be derived from the disclosure of the information. 124
Section 3. This act shall take effect on the same date 125
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that HB 1459 or similar legislation takes effect , if such 126
legislation is adopted in the same legislative session or an 127
extension thereof and become s a law. 128