Florida Senate - 2015                              CS for SB 552
       
       
        
       By the Committee on Governmental Oversight and Accountability;
       and Senator Hays
       
       
       
       
       585-02411-15                                           2015552c1
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to public records; creating s.
    3         420.6231, F.S.; defining the term “individual
    4         identifying information”; creating a public records
    5         exemption for individual identifying information of a
    6         person contained in a Point-in-Time Count and Survey
    7         or data in a Homeless Management Information System;
    8         providing for retroactive application of the
    9         exemption; specifying that the exemption does not
   10         preclude the release of aggregate information;
   11         providing for future review and repeal under the Open
   12         Government Sunset Review Act; providing a statement of
   13         public necessity; providing an effective date.
   14          
   15  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   16  
   17         Section 1. Section 420.6231, Florida Statutes, is created
   18  to read:
   19         420.6231 Individual identifying information in specified
   20  homelessness surveys and databases; public records exemption.—
   21         (1) As used in this section, the term “individual
   22  identifying information” means information that directly or
   23  indirectly identifies a specific person, can be manipulated to
   24  identify a specific person, or can be linked with other
   25  available information to identify a specific person.
   26         (2) Individual identifying information of a person
   27  contained in a Point-in-Time Count and Survey or data in a
   28  Homeless Management Information System collected pursuant to 42
   29  U.S.C. chapter 119, subchapter IV, and related regulations is
   30  exempt from s. 119.07(1) and s. 24(a), Art. I of the State
   31  Constitution. This exemption applies to such information held
   32  before, on, or after the effective date of this section.
   33         (3) This section does not preclude the release, in the
   34  aggregate, of information from a Point-in-Time Count and Survey
   35  or data in a Homeless Management Information System which does
   36  not disclose individual identifying information of a person.
   37         (4) This section is subject to the Open Government Sunset
   38  Review Act in accordance with s. 119.15 and shall stand repealed
   39  on October 2, 2020, unless reviewed and saved from repeal
   40  through reenactment by the Legislature.
   41         Section 2. The Legislature finds that it is a public
   42  necessity that individual identifying information of a person
   43  contained in a Point-in-Time Count and Survey or data in a
   44  Homeless Management Information System collected pursuant to 42
   45  U.S.C. chapter 119, subchapter IV, and related regulations be
   46  made exempt from public records requirements. The public release
   47  of such sensitive information could lead to discrimination
   48  against or ridicule of such individuals and could make them
   49  reluctant to seek assistance for themselves or their family
   50  members. The public release of such information may put affected
   51  individuals at greater risk of injury as a significant
   52  proportion of such individuals are survivors of domestic
   53  violence or suffer from mental illness or substance abuse.
   54  Additionally, public access to such information may put affected
   55  individuals at a heightened risk for fraud and identity theft.
   56  The harm from disclosing such information outweighs any public
   57  benefit that can be derived from widespread and unfettered
   58  access to such information. This exemption is narrowly drawn so
   59  that aggregate information may be disclosed, but does not
   60  disclose the individual identifying information of a person from
   61  the Point-in-Time Count and Survey and data in a Homeless
   62  Management Information System collected pursuant to 42 U.S.C.
   63  chapter 119, subchapter IV, and related regulations.
   64         Section 3. This act shall take effect upon becoming a law.