Senate Bill sb0482c1

    Florida Senate - 2004                            CS for SB 482

    By the Committee on Commerce, Economic Opportunities, and
    Consumer Services; and Senators Aronberg and Fasano




    310-2179-04

  1                      A bill to be entitled

  2         An act relating to consumer protection;

  3         creating ss. 501.165 and 501.166, F.S.;

  4         prohibiting the use of deception to obtain

  5         certain personal information for commercial

  6         solicitation purposes; prohibiting the sale or

  7         other transfer to a third party of personal

  8         customer information that is protected from

  9         disclosure; providing exceptions; providing

10         applicability; providing that transferring such

11         protected information in violation of this

12         section is an unfair or deceptive act or

13         practice or unfair method of competition;

14         providing penalties; amending s. 501.2075,

15         F.S.; providing an exception to a civil

16         penalty; creating s. 501.2076, F.S.;

17         prohibiting falsely representing oneself as

18         being affiliated with a law enforcement or

19         firefighting agency or public utility;

20         providing a penalty; providing that a violation

21         of s. 817.568, F.S., is an unfair or deceptive

22         act or practice or unfair method of competition

23         in violation of part II of ch. 501, F.S.;

24         providing penalties; amending ss. 501.203 and

25         501.204, F.S.; changing obsolete dates;

26         providing an effective date.

27  

28  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:

29  

30         Section 1.  Section 501.165, Florida Statutes, is

31  created to read:

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    Florida Senate - 2004                            CS for SB 482
    310-2179-04




 1         501.165  Obtaining personal information for commercial

 2  solicitation.--Any person who uses deceptive practices or

 3  means to obtain another person's address, telephone number, or

 4  social security number and uses it to engage in commercial

 5  solicitation, or provides it to another person for purposes of

 6  commercial solicitation, commits an unfair or deceptive act or

 7  practice or unfair method of competition in violation of part

 8  II of this chapter, and is subject to the penalties and

 9  remedies provided for such violation, in addition to remedies

10  otherwise available for such conduct.

11         Section 2.  Section 501.166, Florida Statutes, is

12  created to read:

13         501.166  Sale or transfer of personal customer

14  information.--

15         (1)  A person or an entity may not sell or otherwise

16  transfer to a third party personal customer information that

17  is protected from disclosure by law, contract, or a published

18  privacy policy unless the purchaser or transferee:

19         (a)  Agrees to abide by the contract or by the seller's

20  or transferor's then-existing privacy policy, if applicable;

21  and

22         (b)  Is in the same or substantially similar business

23  as the business that last owned the personal customer

24  information and uses the personal customer information only to

25  solicit a transaction for that business or to effect,

26  administer, or enforce a transaction as requested or

27  authorized by that customer.

28         (2)  The prohibition set forth in subsection (1)

29  applies to any customer who resides in this state at the time

30  the personal customer information is sold, transferred, or

31  otherwise obtained.

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    Florida Senate - 2004                            CS for SB 482
    310-2179-04




 1         (3)  A person who violates or fails to comply with

 2  subsection (1) commits an unfair or deceptive act or practice

 3  or unfair method of competition in violation of part II of

 4  this chapter and is subject to the penalties and remedies

 5  provided for such a violation, in addition to remedies

 6  otherwise available by law for such conduct.

 7         Section 3.  Section 501.2075, Florida Statutes, is

 8  amended to read:

 9         501.2075  Civil penalty.--Except as provided in s.

10  501.2076 or s. 501.2077, any person, firm, corporation,

11  association, or entity, or any agent or employee of the

12  foregoing, who is willfully using, or has willfully used, a

13  method, act, or practice declared unlawful under s. 501.204,

14  or who is willfully violating any of the rules of the

15  department adopted under this part, is liable for a civil

16  penalty of not more than $10,000 for each such violation.

17  Willful violations occur when the person knew or should have

18  known that his or her conduct was unfair or deceptive or

19  prohibited by rule.  This civil penalty may be recovered in

20  any action brought under this part by the enforcing authority;

21  or the enforcing authority may terminate any investigation or

22  action upon agreement by the person, firm, corporation,

23  association, or entity, or the agent or employee of the

24  foregoing, to pay a stipulated civil penalty.  The department

25  or the court may waive any such civil penalty if the person,

26  firm, corporation, association, or entity, or the agent or

27  employee of the foregoing, has previously made full

28  restitution or reimbursement or has paid actual damages to the

29  consumers or governmental entities who have been injured by

30  the unlawful act or practice or rule violation.  If civil

31  penalties are assessed in any litigation, the enforcing

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    Florida Senate - 2004                            CS for SB 482
    310-2179-04




 1  authority is entitled to reasonable attorney's fees and costs.

 2  A civil penalty so collected shall accrue to the state and

 3  shall be deposited as received into the General Revenue Fund

 4  unallocated.

 5         Section 4.  Section 501.2076, Florida Statutes, is

 6  created to read:

 7         501.2076  Misrepresentations; law enforcement,

 8  firefighters, or public utilities.--Any person who engages in

 9  a deceptive and unfair trade practice with the intent to

10  deceive another person into believing that he or she is

11  affiliated with a law enforcement agency, firefighting agency,

12  or public utility is subject to a civil penalty not to exceed

13  $15,000 for each violation.

14         Section 5.  A person who violates or fails to comply

15  with any provision of section 817.568, Florida Statutes,

16  commits an unfair or deceptive act or practice or unfair

17  method of competition in violation of part II of chapter 501,

18  Florida Statutes, and is subject to the penalties and remedies

19  provided for such violation, in addition to remedies otherwise

20  available for such conduct.

21         Section 6.  Subsection (3) of section 501.203, Florida

22  Statutes, is amended to read:

23         501.203  Definitions.--As used in this chapter, unless

24  the context otherwise requires, the term:

25         (3)  "Violation of this part" means any violation of

26  this act or the rules adopted under this act and may be based

27  upon any of the following as of July 1, 2004 2001:

28         (a)  Any rules promulgated pursuant to the Federal

29  Trade Commission Act, 15 U.S.C. ss. 41 et seq.;

30  

31  

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    Florida Senate - 2004                            CS for SB 482
    310-2179-04




 1         (b)  The standards of unfairness and deception set

 2  forth and interpreted by the Federal Trade Commission or the

 3  federal courts;

 4         (c)  Any law, statute, rule, regulation, or ordinance

 5  which proscribes unfair methods of competition, or unfair,

 6  deceptive, or unconscionable acts or practices.

 7         Section 7.  Subsection (2) of section 501.204, Florida

 8  Statutes, is amended to read:

 9         501.204  Unlawful acts and practices.--

10         (2)  It is the intent of the Legislature that, in

11  construing subsection (1), due consideration and great weight

12  shall be given to the interpretations of the Federal Trade

13  Commission and the federal courts relating to s. 5(a)(1) of

14  the Federal Trade Commission Act, 15 U.S.C. s. 45(a)(1) as of

15  July 1, 2004 2001.

16         Section 8.  This act shall take effect July 1, 2004.

17  

18          STATEMENT OF SUBSTANTIAL CHANGES CONTAINED IN
                       COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR
19                         Senate Bill 482

20                                 

21  The committee substitute differs from the original bill by:
    (1) providing that personal customer information may not be
22  sold or transferred unless the purchaser or transferee agrees
    to abide by the seller's or transferor's contract or privacy
23  policy related to the personal customer information, and the
    purchaser or transferee is in the same or substantially
24  similar business as the business that last owned the personal
    customer information and uses the personal customer
25  information only to solicit a transaction for that business or
    to effect, administer, or enforce a transaction as requested
26  or authorized by that customer; (2) providing that this
    prohibition applies to any customer who resides in this state
27  at the time the personal customer information is sold or
    transferred; (3) providing that a person who violates these
28  provisions commits a violation of the Florida Deceptive and
    Unfair Trade Practices Act; and (4) removing the provisions in
29  the bill that restricted a bankruptcy sale of such personal
    customer information.
30  

31  

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