Senate Bill sb1806
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Florida Senate - 2006 SB 1806
By Senator Lynn
7-1426-06 See HB 511
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to on-line dating services;
3 creating ss. 501.165-501.171, F.S., the
4 "Florida Internet Dating Safety Awareness Act";
5 providing legislative findings; defining terms;
6 requiring certain disclosures by on-line dating
7 services; providing a clearinghouse for
8 consumers; providing civil penalties; providing
9 exclusions; providing a directive to the
10 Division of Statutory Revision; providing
11 severability; providing an effective date.
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13 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
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15 Section 1. Section 501.165, Florida Statutes, is
16 created to read:
17 501.165 Florida Internet Dating Safety Awareness Act;
18 legislative findings.--
19 (1) Sections 501.165-501.171 may be cited as the
20 "Florida Internet Dating Safety Awareness Act."
21 (2)(a) The Legislature has received public testimony
22 that criminals and sex offenders use on-line dating services
23 to prey upon the citizens of this state.
24 (b) The Legislature finds that residents of this state
25 need to be informed when viewing websites of on-line dating
26 services as to potential risks to personal safety associated
27 with on-line dating. Also, requiring disclosures in the form
28 of guidelines for safer dating and informing residents as to
29 whether a criminal background screening has been conducted on
30 members of an on-line dating service fulfills a compelling
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Florida Senate - 2006 SB 1806
7-1426-06 See HB 511
1 state interest to increase public awareness of the possible
2 risks associated with Internet dating activities.
3 (c) The Legislature finds that the act of transmitting
4 electronic dating information over the Internet addressed to
5 residents of the state, and the act of accepting membership
6 fees from residents of the state, means that an on-line dating
7 service is operating, conducting, engaging in, and otherwise
8 carrying on a business in the state subjecting such on-line
9 dating service providers to regulation by the state and to the
10 jurisdiction of the state's courts.
11 Section 2. Section 501.166, Florida Statutes, is
12 created to read:
13 501.166 Definitions.--As used in ss. 501.165-501.171:
14 (1) "Communicate" or "communicating" means free-form
15 text authored by a member or real-time voice communication
16 through an on-line dating service provider.
17 (2) "Criminal background screening" means a search for
18 a person's felony and sexual offense convictions initiated by
19 an on-line dating service provider and conducted by one of the
20 following means:
21 (a) By searching available and regularly updated
22 government public record databases for felony and sexual
23 offense convictions so long as such databases, in the
24 aggregate, provide substantial national coverage; or
25 (b) By searching a database maintained by a private
26 vendor that is regularly updated and is maintained in the
27 United States with substantial national coverage of criminal
28 history records and sexual offender registries.
29 (3) "Department" means the Department of Agriculture
30 and Consumer Services.
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Florida Senate - 2006 SB 1806
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1 (4) "Florida member" means a member as defined in
2 subsection (5) who provides a Florida billing address or zip
3 code when registering with the provider.
4 (5) "Member" means a person who submits to an on-line
5 dating service provider the information required by the
6 provider to access the provider's service for the purpose of
7 engaging in dating and participating in compatibility
8 evaluations with other persons or obtaining matrimonial
9 matching services.
10 (6) "On-line dating service provider" or "provider"
11 means a person engaged in the business of offering or
12 providing to its members access to dating and compatibility
13 evaluations between persons or matrimonial matching services
14 through the Internet.
15 (7) "Sexual offense conviction" means a conviction for
16 an offense that would qualify the offender for registration as
17 a sexual offender pursuant to s. 943.0435 or under another
18 jurisdiction's equivalent statute.
19 Section 3. Section 501.167, Florida Statutes, is
20 created to read:
21 501.167 Provider safety awareness disclosures.--An
22 on-line dating service provider offering services to Florida
23 members shall:
24 (1) Provide a safety awareness notification with, at a
25 minimum, information that includes a list and description of
26 safety measures reasonably designed to increase awareness of
27 safer dating practices as determined by the provider. Examples
28 of such notifications include:
29 (a) "Anyone who is able to commit identity theft can
30 also falsify a dating profile."
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Florida Senate - 2006 SB 1806
7-1426-06 See HB 511
1 (b) "There is no substitute for acting with caution
2 when communicating with any stranger who wants to meet you."
3 (c) "Never include your last name, e-mail address,
4 home address, phone number, place of work, or any other
5 identifying information in your on-line profile or initial
6 e-mail messages. Stop communicating with anyone who pressures
7 you for personal or financial information or attempts in any
8 way to trick you into revealing it."
9 (d) "If you choose to have a face-to-face meeting with
10 another member, always tell someone in your family or a friend
11 where you are going and when you will return. Never agree to
12 be picked up at your home. Always provide your own
13 transportation to and from your date and meet in a public
14 place at a time with many people around."
15 (2) If an on-line dating service provider does not
16 conduct criminal background screenings on its members, the
17 provider shall disclose, clearly and conspicuously, to all
18 Florida members that the on-line dating service provider does
19 not conduct criminal background screenings. The disclosure
20 shall be provided when an electronic mail message is sent or
21 received by a Florida member, on the profile describing a
22 member to a Florida member, and on the provider's website
23 pages used when a Florida member signs up. A disclosure under
24 this subsection shall be in bold, capital letters in at least
25 12-point type.
26 (3) If an on-line dating service provider conducts
27 criminal background screenings on all of its communicating
28 members, then the provider shall disclose, clearly and
29 conspicuously, to all Florida members that the on-line dating
30 service provider conducts a criminal background screening on
31 each member prior to permitting a Florida member to
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Florida Senate - 2006 SB 1806
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1 communicate with another member. The disclosure shall be
2 provided on the provider's website pages used when a Florida
3 member signs up. A disclosure under this subsection shall be
4 in bold, capital letters in at least 12-point type.
5 (4) If an on-line dating service provider conducts
6 criminal background screenings, then the provider shall
7 disclose whether it has a policy allowing a member who has
8 been identified as having a felony or sexual offense
9 conviction to have access to its service to communicate with
10 any Florida member; that background screenings for felony and
11 sexual offense convictions are not foolproof, are not intended
12 to give members a false sense of security, are not a perfect
13 safety solution and criminals may circumvent even the most
14 sophisticated search technology; that not all criminal records
15 are public in all states and not all databases are up to date;
16 that only publicly available felony and sexual offense
17 convictions are included in the screening; and that screenings
18 do not cover other types of convictions or arrests or any
19 convictions from foreign countries.
20 Section 4. Section 501.168, Florida Statutes, is
21 created to read:
22 501.168 Clearinghouse.--The department shall serve as
23 the clearinghouse for intake of information concerning ss.
24 501.165-501.171, the Florida Internet Dating Safety Awareness
25 Act, from consumers, residents, and victims. The consumer
26 hotline may be used for this purpose. Information obtained
27 shall be directed to the appropriate enforcement entity, as
28 determined by the department.
29 Section 5. Section 501.169, Florida Statutes, is
30 created to read:
31 501.169 Civil penalties.--
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Florida Senate - 2006 SB 1806
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1 (1) An on-line dating service provider that registers
2 Florida members must comply with the provisions of ss.
3 501.165-501.171.
4 (2) Failure to comply with the disclosure requirements
5 of ss. 501.165-501.171 shall constitute a deceptive and unfair
6 trade practice under part II. Each failure to provide a
7 required disclosure constitutes a separate violation.
8 (3) In addition to the remedy provided in subsection
9 (2), the court may impose a civil penalty of up to $1,000 per
10 violation, with an aggregate total not to exceed $25,000 for
11 any 24-hour period, against any on-line dating service
12 provider that violates any requirement of ss. 501.165-501.171.
13 Suit may be brought by an enforcing authority, as defined in
14 s. 501.203. Any penalties collected shall accrue to the
15 enforcing authority or the department's Division of Consumer
16 Services to further consumer enforcement efforts.
17 Section 6. Section 501.171, Florida Statutes, is
18 created to read:
19 501.171 Exclusions.--
20 (1) An Internet access service or other Internet
21 service provider does not violate ss. 501.165-501.171 solely
22 as a result of serving as an intermediary for the transmission
23 of electronic messages between members of an on-line dating
24 service provider.
25 (2) An Internet access service or other Internet
26 service provider shall not be considered an on-line dating
27 service provider within the meaning of ss. 501.165-501.171 as
28 to any on-line dating service website provided by another
29 person or entity.
30 Section 7. The Division of Statutory Revision is
31 directed to include the provisions of sections
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Florida Senate - 2006 SB 1806
7-1426-06 See HB 511
1 501.165-501.171, Florida Statutes, in part I of chapter 501,
2 Florida Statutes.
3 Section 8. If any provision of this act or the
4 application thereof to any person or circumstance is held
5 invalid, the invalidity does not affect other provisions or
6 applications of this act which can be given effect without the
7 invalid provision or application, and to this end the
8 provisions of this act are declared severable.
9 Section 9. This act shall take effect July 1, 2006.
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