Law / United States / 
Florida
Protection of children in online spaces: online platforms likely to be predominantly accessed by children
In force since .
A sensitive categories rule binding public and private bodies.
- Enforcement body
- Florida Department of Legal Affairs
- Obligation class
- Prohibition, Design code, Disclosure
- Audit expectation
- none
As of .
What it requires
- If you operate a social media platform, online game or online gaming platform that provides a service, product, game or feature likely to be predominantly accessed by children under 18, do not process a child's personal information if you have actual knowledge of, or willfully disregard, that the processing may result in substantial harm or privacy risk to children.
- Do not profile a child unless you can demonstrate appropriate safeguards and either that profiling is necessary for the feature the child is actively and knowingly using or that you have a compelling reason it poses no substantial harm or privacy risk.
- Do not collect, sell, share or retain personal information that is not necessary to provide the feature the child is actively and knowingly engaged with, and do not use it for any other reason than the one it was collected for, unless you can demonstrate a compelling reason that doing so poses no substantial harm or privacy risk to children.
- Do not collect, sell or share a child's precise geolocation data (within 1,750 feet) unless strictly necessary for the feature requested and only while necessary, and give the child an obvious sign for the duration of any collection.
- Do not use dark patterns to lead children to provide more personal information than reasonably expected, to forego privacy protections, or to take an action that may result in substantial harm or privacy risk, and do not use or keep age-estimation data for any other purpose or longer than needed.
These lines are LexLint's reading of the law's text, as of .
If you get it wrong
Private right of actionNo
Penalty structure
Up to $50,000 per violation, and the Department may triple the penalty for a violation involving a Florida child the platform has actual knowledge is under 18 years of age.
- Rule
- Per violation only
- As of
- Currency
- USD
- Per violation unit
- Violation
- Per violation amount
- 50,000
What this law does
Section 501.1735 binds an online platform that provides an online service, product, game or feature likely to be predominantly accessed by children. Section 501.1735 defines a child as a consumer under 18 years of age. Section 501.1735 defines an online platform as a social media platform as defined in section 112.23(1), an online game or an online gaming platform.
Under section 501.1735, an online platform likely to be predominantly accessed by children may not process a child's personal information if it has actual knowledge of or willfully disregards that the processing may result in substantial harm or privacy risk to children.
Under section 501.1735, an online platform likely to be predominantly accessed by children may not collect, sell, share or retain personal information that is not necessary to provide the service, product or feature with which a child is actively and knowingly engaged, unless it can demonstrate a compelling reason that doing so does not pose a substantial harm or privacy risk to children.
Under section 501.1735, an online platform bears the burden of demonstrating that its processing does not violate the prohibitions. A violation of section 501.1735 is an unfair and deceptive trade practice actionable solely by the Department of Legal Affairs, which may collect a civil penalty of up to $50,000 per violation, tripled for a violation involving a Florida child the platform knows is under 18 years of age.
Under section 501.1735, after written notice of an alleged violation the Department of Legal Affairs may in its discretion grant a 45-day period to cure. Chapter 2023-262 amended section 501.1735 to provide exemptions from public records requirements. Chapter 2026-52 amended paragraph (d) of subsection (6) of section 501.1735, which defines proprietary information for the public records exemption.
When LexLint raises it
When your app profile says your app serves under-18s or operates a social platform.