Florida Senate - 2014                          SENATOR AMENDMENT
       Bill No. CS for CS for CS for SB 364
       
       
       
       
       
       
                                Ì182152|Î182152                         
       
                              LEGISLATIVE ACTION                        
                    Senate             .             House              
                                       .                                
                                       .                                
                                       .                                
                 Floor: WD/2R          .                                
             04/28/2014 04:24 PM       .                                
       —————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————




       —————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————
       Senator Clemens moved the following:
       
    1         Senate Amendment (with title amendment)
    2  
    3         Before line 48
    4  insert:
    5         Section 1. Section 448.077, Florida Statutes, is created to
    6  read:
    7         448.077 Employer access to employee social media accounts
    8  prohibited.—
    9         (1) As used in this section, the term:
   10         (a) “Electronic communications device” means a device that
   11  uses electronic signals to create, transmit, or receive
   12  information, including computers, telephones, personal digital
   13  assistants, and other similar devices.
   14         (b) “Retaliatory personnel action” has the same meaning as
   15  in s. 448.101.
   16         (c) “Social media account” means an interactive personal
   17  account or profile that an individual establishes and uses
   18  through an electronic application, service, or platform used to
   19  generate or store content, including, but not limited to,
   20  videos, still photographs, blogs, video blogs, instant messages,
   21  audio recordings, or e-mail that is not available to the general
   22  public.
   23         (2) An employer may not do any of the following:
   24         (a) Request or require an employee or prospective employee
   25  to disclose a username, password, or other means of accessing a
   26  social media account through an electronic communications
   27  device.
   28         (b) Request or require an employee or prospective employee
   29  to take an action that allows the employer to gain access to the
   30  employee’s or prospective employee’s social media account if the
   31  account’s contents are not available to the general public.
   32         (c) Take retaliatory personnel action against an employee
   33  for refusing to give the employer access to the employee’s
   34  social media account.
   35         (d) Fail or refuse to hire a prospective employee as a
   36  result of the prospective employee’s refusal to allow the
   37  employer access to the prospective employee’s social media
   38  account.
   39         (3) An employee or prospective employee may bring a civil
   40  action against an employer who violates this section in a court
   41  located in the county in which the employee or prospective
   42  employee resides or where the alleged violation occurred. Such
   43  action must be brought within 2 years after the violation
   44  occurred. The employee or prospective employee may seek
   45  injunctive relief to restrain the employer from continuing to
   46  act in violation of this section and may recover damages in an
   47  amount equal to the actual damages arising from the violation or
   48  $500 per violation, whichever is greater. An employee or
   49  prospective employee who prevails is entitled to recover court
   50  costs and reasonable attorney fees.
   51         (4) This section does not prevent an employer from
   52  requesting or requiring an employee to disclose a username,
   53  password, or other means of accessing a social media account
   54  used for business purposes.
   55         (5) This section does not prohibit or restrict an employer
   56  from complying with a duty to monitor or retain employee
   57  communications which is established under state or federal law
   58  or by a self-regulatory organization, as defined in the
   59  Securities Exchange Act of 1934, 15 U.S.C. s. 78c(a)(26), or
   60  from screening a prospective employee who completes an
   61  application for employment at a law enforcement agency or an
   62  employee who is the subject of a conduct investigation performed
   63  by a law enforcement agency.
   64  
   65  ================= T I T L E  A M E N D M E N T ================
   66  And the title is amended as follows:
   67         Delete line 2
   68  and insert:
   69         An act relating to computer offenses; creating s.
   70         448.077, F.S.; providing definitions; prohibiting an
   71         employer from requesting or requiring access to a
   72         social media account of an employee or prospective
   73         employee; prohibiting an employer from taking
   74         retaliatory personnel action for an employee’s failure
   75         to provide access to his or her social media account;
   76         prohibiting an employer from failing or refusing to
   77         hire a prospective employee who does not provide
   78         access to his or her social media account; authorizing
   79         civil actions for violations; providing for recovery
   80         of damages, attorney fees, and court costs; specifying
   81         that an employer is not prohibited from seeking access
   82         to social media accounts under certain circumstances;
   83         amending s.