Senate Bill sb1224
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Florida Senate - 2007 SB 1224
By Senator Ring
32-871-07 See HB
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to online dating services;
3 creating ss. 501.165-501.171, F.S., the
4 "Internet Predator Awareness Act"; providing
5 legislative findings; defining terms; requiring
6 certain disclosures by online dating services;
7 providing a clearinghouse for consumers;
8 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 Internet Predator Awareness Act; legislative
18 findings.--
19 (1) Sections 501.165-501.171 may be cited as the
20 "Internet Predator Awareness Act."
21 (2)(a) The Legislature has received public testimony
22 that criminals and sex offenders use online dating services to
23 prey upon the residents of this state.
24 (b) The Legislature finds that residents of this state
25 need to be informed when viewing websites of online dating
26 services as to potential risks to personal safety associated
27 with online dating. Also, requiring disclosures in the form of
28 guidelines for safer dating and informing residents as to
29 whether a criminal background screening has been conducted on
30 members of an online dating service fulfills a compelling
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Florida Senate - 2007 SB 1224
32-871-07 See HB
1 state interest to increase public awareness of the possible
2 risks associated with Internet dating activities.
3 (c) The Legislature finds that the acts of
4 transmitting over the Internet electronic dating information
5 addressed to residents of the state or accepting membership
6 fees from residents of the state show that an online dating
7 service provider is operating, conducting, engaging in, and
8 otherwise carrying on a business in the state and subject such
9 an online dating service provider to regulation by the state
10 and to the 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," "communicating," or "communication"
15 means free-form text authored by a member or real-time voice
16 communication through an online 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 online 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
23 sexual-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 - 2007 SB 1224
32-871-07 See HB
1 (4) "Florida member" means a member as defined in this
2 section who provides a Florida billing address or zip code
3 when registering with the provider.
4 (5) "Member" means a person who submits to an online
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) "Online 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 under 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 online 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 - 2007 SB 1224
32-871-07 See HB
1 (b) "There is no substitute for acting with caution
2 when communicating with a 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 online 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 a family member or a friend where
11 you are going and when you will return. Never agree to be
12 picked up at your home. Always provide your own transportation
13 to and from your date and meet in a public place at a time
14 with many people around."
15 (2) If an online 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 online dating service provider does
19 not conduct criminal background screenings. The disclosure
20 shall be provided when an e-mail or other text message is sent
21 or 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 online dating service provider conducts
27 criminal background screenings on all of its communicating
28 members, the provider shall disclose, clearly and
29 conspicuously, to all Florida members that the online 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 - 2007 SB 1224
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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 online dating service provider conducts
6 criminal background screenings, the provider shall disclose
7 that background screenings of applicants are not perfect and
8 there is no way to guarantee that the name provided by a
9 person to be used in a background screening is the person's
10 true identity. Also, not all criminal records are publicly
11 available. Therefore, the screenings may not identify every
12 member who has a felony or sexual-offense conviction and
13 members should participate in the service at their own risk
14 and use caution when communicating with other members.
15 Additionally, the provider shall disclose whether it has a
16 policy allowing a member who has been identified as having a
17 felony or sexual-offense conviction to have access to its
18 service to communicate with any Florida member.
19 Section 4. Section 501.168, Florida Statutes, is
20 created to read:
21 501.168 Clearinghouse.--The department shall serve as
22 the clearinghouse for intake of information concerning ss.
23 501.165-501.171 from consumers, residents, and victims. The
24 consumer hotline may be used for this purpose. Information
25 obtained shall be directed to the appropriate enforcement
26 entity, as determined by the department.
27 Section 5. Section 501.169, Florida Statutes, is
28 created to read:
29 501.169 Civil penalties.--
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Florida Senate - 2007 SB 1224
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1 (1) An online 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 online dating service provider
12 that violates any requirement of ss. 501.165-501.171. Suit may
13 be brought by an enforcing authority as defined in s. 501.203.
14 Any penalties collected shall accrue to the enforcing
15 authority or the department's Division of Consumer Services to
16 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 a communication between members of an online dating service
24 provider.
25 (2) An Internet access service or other Internet
26 service provider shall not be considered an online dating
27 service provider within the meaning of ss. 501.165-501.171 as
28 to any online 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 - 2007 SB 1224
32-871-07 See HB
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 that 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, 2007.
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