| 1 | Representative Detert offered the following: |
| 2 |
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| 3 | Amendment (with title amendments) |
| 4 | Remove line 174 and insert: |
| 5 | Section 3. Paragraph (x) of subsection (3) of section |
| 6 | 119.07, Florida Statutes, is amended to read: |
| 7 | 119.07 Inspection, examination, and duplication of |
| 8 | records; exemptions.-- |
| 9 | (3) |
| 10 | (x)1. The social security numbers of all current and |
| 11 | former agency employees which numbers are contained in agency |
| 12 | employment records are exempt from subsection (1) and exempt |
| 13 | from s. 24(a), Art. I of the State Constitution. As used in this |
| 14 | paragraph, the term "agency" means an agency as defined in s. |
| 15 | 119.011. |
| 16 | 2. An agency that is the custodian of the social security |
| 17 | number specified in subparagraph 1. and that is not the |
| 18 | employing agency shall maintain the exempt status of the social |
| 19 | security number only if the employee or the employing agency of |
| 20 | the employee submits a written request for confidentiality to |
| 21 | the custodial agency. This subparagraph is subject to the Open |
| 22 | Government Sunset Review Act of 1995 in accordance with s. |
| 23 | 119.15 and shall stand repealed on October 2, 2009, unless |
| 24 | reviewed and saved from repeal through reenactment by the |
| 25 | Legislature. |
| 26 | Section 4. The Legislature finds that it is a public |
| 27 | necessity that employee social security numbers held by an |
| 28 | agency be made exempt from public disclosure. The Legislature |
| 29 | also finds that it is not a necessity to allow third-party |
| 30 | access to such exempt numbers if an employee or the employing |
| 31 | agency of the employee has submitted a written request for |
| 32 | confidentiality of his or her social security number. A number |
| 33 | of reasons have been cited by third parties for needing access |
| 34 | to social security numbers held by government agencies. The |
| 35 | prevailing needs are for verification of the accuracy of |
| 36 | personal information received by a third party and for third |
| 37 | party use in matching, verifying, or retrieving information. |
| 38 | Alternative methods are available to access such exempt numbers, |
| 39 | for those purposes, if an employee or the employing agency of |
| 40 | the employee has requested that his or her social security |
| 41 | number be kept exempt. Third parties may utilize commercial |
| 42 | entities providing services related to verification of |
| 43 | identities and information. Further, social security numbers are |
| 44 | of a sensitive personal nature and are often the link to an |
| 45 | individual's personal, financial, medical, or familial records. |
| 46 | It is the only nationwide, unique numeric form of identification |
| 47 | in existence in the United States. Third-party access to such |
| 48 | numbers could lead to misuse of those numbers. Such misuse could |
| 49 | lead to increased opportunities of fraud and identity theft. As |
| 50 | such, the Legislature finds that the harm from disclosing such |
| 51 | numbers to third parties outweighs any public benefit that can |
| 52 | be derived from access to such number. Finally, oversight is |
| 53 | still provided because the exemption for employee social |
| 54 | security numbers is only triggered upon a written request for |
| 55 | confidentiality by the employee or the employing agency of the |
| 56 | employee. |
| 57 | Section 5. This act shall take effect upon becoming a law. |
| 58 |
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| 59 | ================ T I T L E A M E N D M E N T ============= |
| 60 | Remove line 20 and insert: |
| 61 | a statement of public necessity; amending s. 119.07, F.S.; |
| 62 | providing an exemption from public records requirements for |
| 63 | social security numbers of agency employees upon written |
| 64 | request; providing for future review and repeal under the Open |
| 65 | Government Sunset Review Act of 1995; providing a statement of |
| 66 | public necessity; providing an effective |