Florida Senate - 2015 SB 7040 By the Committee on Transportation 596-01957-15 20157040__ 1 A bill to be entitled 2 An act relating to public records; amending s. 3 119.0712, F.S.; providing an exemption from public 4 records requirements for electronic mail addresses 5 collected by the Department of Highway Safety and 6 Motor Vehicles; providing for future review and repeal 7 of the exemption; providing a statement of public 8 necessity; providing an effective date. 9 10 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 11 12 Section 1. Present paragraph (c) of subsection (2) of 13 section 119.0712, Florida Statutes, is redesignated as paragraph 14 (d), and a new paragraph (c) is added to that subsection, to 15 read: 16 119.0712 Executive branch agency-specific exemptions from 17 inspection or copying of public records.— 18 (2) DEPARTMENT OF HIGHWAY SAFETY AND MOTOR VEHICLES.— 19 (c) Electronic mail addresses collected by the Department 20 of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles pursuant to s. 319.40(3), 21 s. 320.95(2), or s. 322.08(8) are exempt from s. 119.07(1) and 22 s. 24(a), Art. I of the State Constitution. This paragraph is 23 subject to the Open Government Sunset Review Act in accordance 24 with s. 119.15 and shall stand repealed on October 2, 2020, 25 unless reviewed and saved from repeal through reenactment by the 26 Legislature. 27 Section 2. The Legislature finds that it is a public 28 necessity that customers’ electronic mail addresses collected 29 and held by the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles 30 for the purpose of conducting motor vehicle record and driver 31 license transactions be made exempt from s. 119.07(1), Florida 32 Statutes, and s. 24(a), Article I of the State Constitution. The 33 federal Driver’s Privacy Protection Act of 1994, 18 U.S.C. ss. 34 2721 et seq., did not include electronic mail addresses among 35 the types of personal information protected from disclosure when 36 enacted. Customer use of electronic mail addresses in conducting 37 motor vehicle and driver license record transactions 38 electronically with the department has significantly increased 39 since 1994. Under current law, the electronic mail addresses 40 collected by the department are public records and can be 41 obtained by anyone for any purpose. However, such electronic 42 mail addresses are unique to the individual and, when combined 43 with other personal identifying information, can be used for 44 identity theft, consumer scams, unwanted solicitations, or other 45 invasive contacts. The public availability of personal 46 electronic mail addresses puts department customers at increased 47 risk of these activities. This risk may be significantly limited 48 by permitting the department to keep customer electronic mail 49 addresses confidential. 50 Section 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 2015.