| 1 | The Governmental Operations Committee recommends the following: |
| 2 |
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| 3 | Council/Committee Substitute |
| 4 | Remove the entire bill and insert: |
| 5 | A bill to be entitled |
| 6 | An act relating to public records; amending s. 119.071, |
| 7 | F.S.; exempting from public records requirements biometric |
| 8 | identification information held by an agency before, on, |
| 9 | or after the effective date of the exemption; providing a |
| 10 | definition; providing for future legislative review and |
| 11 | repeal; providing a finding of public necessity; providing |
| 12 | a contingent effective date. |
| 13 |
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| 14 | Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: |
| 15 |
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| 16 | Section 1. Paragraph (g) is added to subsection (5) of |
| 17 | section 119.071, Florida Statutes, to read: |
| 18 | 119.071 General exemptions from inspection or copying of |
| 19 | public records.-- |
| 20 | (5) OTHER PERSONAL INFORMATION.-- |
| 21 | (g)1. Biometric identification information held by an |
| 22 | agency before, on, or after the effective date of this exemption |
| 23 | is exempt from s. 119.07(1) and s. 24(a), Art. I of the State |
| 24 | Constitution. As used in this paragraph, the term "biometric |
| 25 | identification information" means: |
| 26 | a. Any record of friction ridge detail; |
| 27 | b. Fingerprints; |
| 28 | c. Palm prints; and |
| 29 | d. Footprints. |
| 30 | 2. This paragraph is subject to the Open Government Sunset |
| 31 | Review Act in accordance with s. 119.15 and shall stand repealed |
| 32 | on October 2, 2011, unless reviewed and saved from repeal |
| 33 | through reenactment by the Legislature. |
| 34 | Section 2. The Legislature finds that it is a public |
| 35 | necessity that biometric identification information held by an |
| 36 | agency before, on, or after the effective date of this exemption |
| 37 | be made exempt from public records requirements. Biometric |
| 38 | identification information is used to verify the identity of |
| 39 | persons and by its very nature involves matters uniquely related |
| 40 | to individual persons. The use of multiple methods of biometric |
| 41 | identification is a growing technology in detecting and solving |
| 42 | crime, in preventing identity theft, and in providing enhanced |
| 43 | levels of security in agency and other operations. Given |
| 44 | existing technological capabilities for duplicating, enhancing, |
| 45 | modifying, and transferring records, the availability of |
| 46 | biometric identification information creates the opportunity for |
| 47 | improper, illegal, or otherwise harmful use of such information. |
| 48 | At the same time, use of biometric identification information by |
| 49 | agencies is a useful and increasingly valuable tool. Thus, the |
| 50 | Legislature finds that it is a public necessity to protect |
| 51 | biometric identification information held by an agency before, |
| 52 | on, or after the effective date of this act. |
| 53 | Section 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 2006, if |
| 54 | House Bill 151, or similar legislation relating to fingerprint |
| 55 | identification information held by an agency, is adopted in the |
| 56 | same legislative session or an extension thereof and becomes |
| 57 | law. |