Florida Data Breach Notification Law

The Florida data breach notification law reaches nearly every business

Florida gives a business 30 days to notify the people affected, measured from the point it determines a breach occurred or has reason to believe one occurred ¹. It also expects notice as fast as practicable and without unreasonable delay, so day 30 is the outer limit, not the target.

The law reaches almost every kind of business: sole proprietors, partnerships, corporations and other commercial entities that acquire, keep, store or use personal information in electronic form ¹. Because the list starts with sole proprietors, size alone does not take a business outside the law.

What sets Florida apart is the penalty schedule. Late notice is fined by how long it runs late, which makes the calendar the most important document in a Florida breach response.

The 30-day clock, and how to get 15 more days

Florida lets a business ask for more time. If you give the Department of Legal Affairs good cause in writing within the 30 days, you can get 15 more days to notify residents ¹. Make that request early, with the facts that justify it, not on day 29.

Vendors run on a shorter clock. A third-party agent that keeps data for your business must tell you within 10 days of determining a breach ¹. If the vendor agreed to send notices on your behalf and fails to, the statute treats that failure as your violation. Read your managed IT and software contracts for who sends notices and who pays.

The statute also requires reasonable security measures and proper disposal of records ¹. A written information security plan is the usual way to show what your reasonable measures are.

Notice to the Department of Legal Affairs

Notice to the state goes to the Department of Legal Affairs, which is the Attorney General's office. It is required for any breach affecting 500 or more individuals in Florida, and it is due no later than 30 days after determining the breach or having reason to believe one occurred ¹. A breach of exactly 500 Floridians qualifies, whatever some charts say, because the statute's words are "500 or more".

A business that gives notice under its primary federal regulator's rules complies, as long as a copy goes to the Department ¹. Health care offices should also read our HIPAA breach notification rule guide.

Covered data, geolocation and the encryption rule

Florida's definition of personal information goes well past Social Security and card numbers. It includes ¹:

• Online account logins: a username or email address plus the password or security question
• Passport numbers and military ID numbers
• Medical and health insurance information
• Biometric data and any information about a person's geolocation, both added by SB 262 effective July 1, 2024 ²

The geolocation wording is broad: it says any information regarding geolocation, not only precise location. Businesses that log GPS data from vehicles or phones should treat it as covered.

Information that is encrypted, secured or modified so it no longer identifies a person is not personal information under the law ¹. The statute has no separate exception for a stolen key, so if a key may have gone with the data, take that question to counsel.

The no-harm exception and Florida's daily penalties

A business can skip resident notice only after an appropriate investigation and consultation with law enforcement, and only if it reasonably determines the breach has not caused and will not likely cause identity theft or other financial harm ¹. The decision must be written down, kept for at least five years and sent to the Department of Legal Affairs within 30 days. Florida does not let the exception be used quietly.

The Department enforces the law as an unfair or deceptive trade practice. For failing to notify, the civil penalty is ¹:

• $1,000 a day for the first 30 days
• $50,000 for each later 30-day period, up to 180 days
• Up to $500,000 if the violation runs past 180 days

Penalties are counted per breach, not per person. The statute gives individuals no private right to sue.

First moves for a Florida business after a breach

With criminals still on the network, an insured Florida company gets its carrier on the phone first, reports the crime at ic3.gov for the FBI, and leaves the affected systems unwiped until evidence is safe ⁴⁷⁵. Many policies name the lawyers you must use, so read yours before calling anyone; what carriers write into policies explains the usual terms.

Your IT vendor or a specialist containment team then stops the attack. Sort the list by home state next: Georgia and Alabama residents bring their own rules, and the full comparison of state laws covers the others. Mark day 30 and, separately, the last day to ask for the extension.

IC3 counted 71,843 complaints from Floridians in 2025 and about $1.6 billion in losses, third highest of any state on both counts ³. Pricing for ongoing IT support is on our pages for Miami, Tampa, Orlando, Jacksonville, Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach.

This page was compared with section 501.171 on October 13, 2026, and it offers general information rather than legal advice. Since fines grow with every late day, involve counsel early enough to request the 15-day extension if you need it.