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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
501.1737, 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 age verification violations; authorizing the 6
department to disclose such information for specified 7
purposes; providing a definition; providing for future 8
legislative review and repeal of the exemption; 9
providing a statement of public necessity; providing a 10
contingent effective date. 11
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Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 13
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Section 1. Subsection (8) of section 501.1737, Florida 15
Statutes, as created by HB 3 or similar legislation, 2024 16
Regular Session, is renumbered as subsection (9), and a new 17
subsection (8) is added to that section, to read: 18
501.1737 Age verification for online access to materials 19
harmful to minors.— 20
(8)(a) All information held by the department pursuant to 21
a notification of a violation under this section or an 22
investigation of a violation of this section is confidential and 23
exempt from s. 119.07(1) and s. 24(a), Art. I of the State 24
Constitution, until such time as the investigation is completed 25
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or ceases to be acti ve. This exemption shall be construed in 26
conformity with s. 119.071(2)(c). 27
(b) During an active investigation, information made 28
confidential and exempt pursuant to paragraph (a) may be 29
disclosed by the department: 30
1. In the furtherance of its official duties and 31
responsibilities; 32
2. For print, publication, or broadcast if the department 33
determines that such release would assist in notifying the 34
public or locating or identifying a person who the department 35
believes to be a victim of an improper use or disposal of 36
customer records, except that information made confidential and 37
exempt by paragraph (c) may not be released pursuant to this 38
subparagraph; or 39
3. To another governmental entity in the furtherance of 40
its official duties and responsibilities. 41
(c) Upon completion of an investigation or once an 42
investigation ceases to be active, the following information 43
held by the department shall remain confidential and exempt from 44
s. 119.07(1) and s. 24(a), Art. I of the State Constitution: 45
1. Information that is otherwise confidential or exempt 46
from s. 119.07(1) or s. 24(a), Art. I of the State Constitution. 47
2. Personal identifying information. 48
3. A computer forensic report. 49
4. Information that would otherwise reveal weaknesses in 50
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the data security of the commercial entity. 51
5. Information that would disclose the proprietary 52
information of the commercial entity. 53
(d) For purposes of this subsection, the term "proprietary 54
information" means information that: 55
1. Is owned or controlled by the commercial entity. 56
2. Is intended to be private and is treated by the 57
commercial entity as private because disclosure would harm the 58
commercial entity 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 will 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. Reveals competitive interests, the disclosure of which 66
would impair the competitive advantage of the commercial entity 67
who is the subject of the information. 68
(e) This subsection is subject to the Open Government 69
Sunset Review Act in accordance with s. 119.15 and shall stand 70
repealed on October 2, 2029, unless reviewed and saved from 71
repeal through reenactment by the Legislature. 72
Section 2. The Legislature finds that it is a public 73
necessity that all information held by the Department of Legal 74
Affairs pursuant to a notification of a violation of s. 75
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501.1737, Florida Statutes, or an investigation of a violation 76
of that section, be made confidential and exempt from s. 77
119.07(1), Florida Statutes, and s. 24(a), Article I of the 78
State Constitution for the following reaso ns: 79
(1) A notification of a violation of s. 501.1737, Florida 80
Statutes, may result in an investigation of such violation. The 81
premature release of such information could frustrate or thwart 82
the investigation and impair the ability of the department to 83
effectively and efficiently administer s. 501.1737, Florida 84
Statutes. In addition, release of such information before 85
completion of an active investigation could jeopardize the 86
ongoing investigation. 87
(2) Release of information that is otherwise confidentia l 88
or exempt from public records requirements once an investigation 89
is completed or ceases to be active would undo the specific 90
statutory exemption protecting that information; thus, 91
clarifying that any protections currently afforded to that 92
information are not removed. 93
(3) An investigation of a violation of s. 501.1737, 94
Florida Statutes, is likely to result in the gathering of 95
sensitive personal identifying information, which could include 96
identification numbers, unique identifiers, professional or 97
employment-related information, and personal financial 98
information. Such information could be used for the purpose of 99
identity theft. The release of such information could subject 100
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individuals to possible privacy violations, as it would reveal 101
information of a sensitive personal nature. 102
(4) Notices received by the department and information 103
generated during an investigation of a violation of s. 501.1737, 104
Florida Statutes, are likely to contain proprietary information. 105
Such information derives independent, econom ic value, actual or 106
potential, from being generally unknown to, and not readily 107
ascertainable by, other persons who might obtain economic value 108
from its disclosure or use. Allowing public access to 109
proprietary information through a public records request c ould 110
destroy the value of the proprietary information and cause a 111
financial loss to the commercial entity. Release of such 112
information could give business competitors an unfair advantage. 113
(5) Information held by the department may contain a 114
computer forensic report or information that could reveal 115
weaknesses in the data security of the commercial entity. The 116
release of this information could result in the identification 117
of vulnerabilities in the cybersecurity system of the commercial 118
entity and be used to harm the commercial entity and clients. 119
(6) The harm that may result from the release of 120
information held by the department pursuant to a notification or 121
investigation by the department of a violation of s. 501.1737, 122
Florida Statutes, could impair the e ffective and efficient 123
administration of the investigation and thus, outweighs the 124
public benefit that may be derived from the disclosure of the 125
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information. 126
Section 3. This act shall take effect on the same date 127
that HB 3 or similar legislation takes effect, if such 128
legislation is adopted in the same legislative session or an 129
extension thereof and becomes a law. 130