Legislature to pass all-encompassing privacy bill
HB 969/SB 1734 Rep Fiona McFarland, Senator Jennifer Bradley
What started out as a laudable goal has become a nightmare for Florida businesses and every dealership in Florida! Without swift action you will have to comply with a new data privacy bill that, while not drawn to impact you, would force you into costly compliance and consumer litigation at a level you have never experienced!
The leadership of Florida and other states are looking to send a strong message to the Big Tech companies who gather and manipulate consumer data. While we may agree with the conceptual sentiment for this bill, it will do harm to every Florida business that collects, stores and transfers data to industry affiliates and vendors as part of their industry transactions.
What the bill does:
- It gives consumers the right to control how their personal data is shared and sold.
- It requires you to publish a privacy policy and tell consumers, if asked, what data you have on them, how you got it, and how you or anyone you send it to will use it.
- Consumers can ask you to have that information deleted or corrected.
- Failure to properly comply will allow any consumer to sue you for damages and attorney fees, plus subject you to possible action by the Attorney General’s office. Both bills have a private right of action that needs to be removed!
Your immediate action today is the only way to stop this train!
How did this get so far?
Business groups are intimidated because the Governor and leadership has stated this is priority one! But as bad as the bill is from a compliance standpoint, the recently added private right of action makes this bill our enemy number one!
FADA and other business groups oppose this legislation, but all lobbyists are being told to back off, as this is a leadership priority. So this is a fight that every dealer has to take part in! Now is the time for back home grass roots lobbying!
We have offered an amendment to exempt dealers, since we are heavily regulated under several Federal laws, mainly the Graham Leach Bliley Act (GLB). There is a GLB exemption in this bill now, but it only relates to your activity as a lender in F&I. We want a broad GLB exemption like Virginia passed in their privacy bill, where the exemption covers all of your data collection activities.
Your message is simple and clear:
HB 969/SB 1734 may be a priority for Governor DeSantis and our legislative leaders, but you are expecting either a complete exemption for dealers regulated by GLB or a “no vote” when the bill goes to the floor. You want an amendment to remove the private right of action for consumers. The Attorney General should be the enforcement agency, not trial lawyers.
You have a right to request your House and Senate member follow your lead here. Tell them you will be watching their vote!
We are requesting you to CALL the following:
- President of the Senate, Senator Wilton Simpson (850) 487-5229
- Speaker of the House, Representative Chris Sprowls (850) 717-5000
- Governor’s office (850) 717-9337
Whether you know your local House or Senate member, this is your time to let them know your thoughts! Phone calls first, then emails and texts. Finally, please email members@flada.org to let us know what action you were able to take.
