Florida Senate - 2014 SB 1002
By Senator Hays
11-00403-14 20141002__
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to public records; creating s.
3 559.5558, F.S.; providing a public records exemption
4 for information held by the Office of Financial
5 Regulation pursuant to an investigation or examination
6 of consumer collection agencies; providing for future
7 repeal and legislative review of the exemption under
8 the Open Government Sunset Review Act; providing a
9 statement of public necessity; providing a contingent
10 effective date.
11
12 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
13
14 Section 1. Section 559.5558, Florida Statutes, is created
15 to read:
16 559.5558 Public records exemption.—
17 (1) DEFINITIONS.—As used in this section, the term
18 “personal financial and health information” means:
19 (a) Information relating to the existence, nature, source,
20 or amount of a consumer’s personal income, expenses, and debt;
21 (b) Information relating to a consumer’s financial
22 transactions of any kind;
23 (c) Information relating to the existence, identification,
24 nature, or value of a consumer’s assets, liabilities, or net
25 worth;
26 (d) A consumer’s personal health condition, disease, or
27 injury; or
28 (e) A history of a consumer’s personal medical diagnosis or
29 treatment.
30 (2) INVESTIGATIONS AND EXAMINATIONS.—
31 (a) Except as otherwise provided in this section,
32 information held by the office pursuant to an investigation or
33 examination of a violation of this part is confidential and
34 exempt from s. 119.07(1) and s. 24(a), Art. I of the State
35 Constitution. However, information made confidential and exempt
36 pursuant to this section may be disclosed by the office to a law
37 enforcement agency or another administrative agency in the
38 performance of its official duties and responsibilities.
39 (b) Such information is no longer confidential and exempt
40 once the investigation or examination is completed or ceases to
41 be active unless disclosure of the information would:
42 1. Jeopardize the integrity of another active investigation
43 or examination;
44 2. Reveal the personal identifying information of a
45 consumer, unless the consumer is also the complainant. In the
46 case of a complainant, the complainant’s personal identifying
47 information is subject to disclosure after the investigation or
48 examination is completed or ceases to be active; however, the
49 complainant’s personal financial and health information remains
50 confidential and exempt;
51 3. Reveal the identity of a confidential source;
52 4. Reveal investigative or examination techniques or
53 procedures; or
54 5. Reveal trade secrets, as defined in s. 688.002.
55 (c) For purposes of this section, an investigation or
56 examination shall be considered active if the investigation or
57 examination is proceeding with reasonable dispatch and the
58 office has a reasonable good faith belief that the investigation
59 or examination may lead to the filing of an administrative,
60 civil, or criminal proceeding or the denial or conditional grant
61 of an application for registration or other approval required
62 under this part.
63 (3) REVIEW AND REPEAL.—This section is subject to the Open
64 Government Sunset Review Act in accordance with s. 119.15 and
65 shall stand repealed on October 2, 2019, unless reviewed and
66 saved from repeal through reenactment by the Legislature.
67 Section 2. The Legislature finds that it is a public
68 necessity that information held by the Office of Financial
69 Regulation pursuant to an investigation or examination conducted
70 under part VI of chapter 559, Florida Statutes, be confidential
71 and exempt from public records requirements for the following
72 reasons:
73 (1) An investigation or examination conducted by the Office
74 of Financial Regulation may lead to the filing of an
75 administrative, civil, or criminal proceeding or to the denial
76 or conditional granting of a registration. The premature release
77 of such information could frustrate or thwart the investigation
78 or examination and impair the ability of the office to
79 effectively and efficiently administer part VI of chapter 559,
80 Florida Statutes.
81 (2) Information held by the Office of Financial Regulation
82 which is provided to a law enforcement agency or another
83 administrative agency for further investigation or examination
84 needs to remain confidential and exempt until the investigation
85 or examination is completed or ceases to be active. Release of
86 this information before the completion of that investigation or
87 examination would jeopardize the integrity of the investigation
88 and impair the ability of other agencies to carry out their
89 statutory duties.
90 (3) Investigations and examinations of consumer collection
91 agencies frequently involve the gathering of sensitive personal
92 information, including financial and health information
93 concerning complainants and consumers. The office may not
94 otherwise have access to this sensitive personal information but
95 for the investigation or examination. Because of the sensitive
96 personal nature of the information gathered, if the individuals
97 who are the subjects of such information are identifiable, the
98 disclosure of this information to the public could cause
99 unwarranted damage to the good names or reputations of the
100 individuals, especially if information associated with the
101 individuals is inaccurate. Furthermore, if the individuals who
102 are the subjects of such information are identifiable, public
103 access to such information could jeopardize the financial safety
104 of such individuals by placing them at risk of becoming the
105 subjects of identity theft. The Legislature further finds that
106 it is a public necessity that health information held by the
107 office be made confidential and exempt because matters of
108 personal health are traditionally private and confidential
109 concerns between the patient and the health care provider. The
110 private and confidential nature of personal health matters
111 pervades both the public and private health care sectors.
112 Moreover, public disclosure of health information could have a
113 negative effect upon a person’s business and personal
114 relationships and could also have detrimental financial
115 consequences.
116 (4) Releasing information identifying a confidential source
117 could jeopardize both the integrity of a current and future
118 investigation or examination as well as the safety of the
119 confidential source.
120 (5) Revealing investigative or examination techniques and
121 procedures could allow a person to hide or conceal violations of
122 law that otherwise would have been discovered during an
123 investigation or examination. This exemption is necessary for
124 the office, as well as law enforcement and other administrative
125 agencies, in order for such agencies to effectively and
126 efficiently carry out their statutory duties, which would be
127 significantly impaired without this exemption.
128 (6) A trade secret derives independent economic value,
129 actual or potential, from not being generally known to, and not
130 readily ascertainable by, other persons who can obtain economic
131 value from its disclosure or use. Without an exemption for a
132 trade secret held by the office, that trade secret becomes a
133 public record when received and must be divulged upon request.
134 Divulging a trade secret under the public records law would
135 destroy the value of that property, causing a financial loss to
136 the person or entity submitting the trade secret. Release of
137 that information would give business competitors an unfair
138 advantage and weaken the position of the person or entity
139 supplying the trade secret in the marketplace.
140 Section 3. This act shall take effect on the same date that
141 SB __ or substantially similar legislation takes effect, if such
142 legislation is adopted in the same legislative session or an
143 extension thereof and becomes a law.