(1) Except as provided in subsection (2) or subsection (3):

(a) A provider of electronic communication service to the public may not knowingly divulge to:

1. Any person or entity the contents of a communication while in electronic storage by that service; or
2. Any governmental entity a record or other information pertaining to a subscriber to or customer of such service.

Terms Used In Florida Statutes 934.22

  • Contents: when used with respect to any wire, oral, or electronic communication, includes any information concerning the substance, purport, or meaning of that communication. See Florida Statutes 934.02
  • Electronic communication: means any transfer of signs, signals, writing, images, sounds, data, or intelligence of any nature transmitted in whole or in part by a wire, radio, electromagnetic, photoelectronic, or photooptical system that affects intrastate, interstate, or foreign commerce, but does not include:
    (a) Any wire or oral communication;
    (b) Any communication made through a tone-only paging device;
    (c) Any communication from an electronic or mechanical device which permits the tracking of the movement of a person or an object; or
    (d) Electronic funds transfer information stored by a financial institution in a communications system used for the electronic storage and transfer of funds. See Florida Statutes 934.02
  • Electronic storage: means :
    (a) Any temporary intermediate storage of a wire or electronic communication incidental to the electronic transmission thereof. See Florida Statutes 934.02
  • Law enforcement agency: means an agency of the State of Florida or a political subdivision thereof or of the United States if the primary responsibility of the agency is the prevention and detection of crime or the enforcement of the penal, traffic, or highway laws of this state and if its agents and officers are empowered by law to conduct criminal investigations and to make arrests. See Florida Statutes 934.02
  • Person: means any employee or agent of the State of Florida or political subdivision thereof, of the United States, or of any other state or political subdivision thereof, and any individual, partnership, association, joint stock company, trust, or corporation. See Florida Statutes 934.02
  • Remote computing service: means the provision to the public of computer storage or processing services by means of an electronic communications system. See Florida Statutes 934.02
(b) A provider of remote computing service to the public may not knowingly divulge to:

1. Any person or entity the contents of any communication that is carried or maintained on that service:

a. On behalf of a subscriber or customer of such service and received by means of electronic transmission from, or created by means of computer processing of communications received by means of electronic transmission from, a subscriber or customer of such remote computing service; and
b. Solely for the purpose of providing storage or computer processing services to its subscriber or customer, if the provider is not authorized to access the contents of any such communication for purposes of providing any service other than storage or computer processing; or
2. Any governmental entity a record or other information pertaining to a subscriber to or customer of such service.
(2) A provider described in subsection (1) may divulge the contents of a communication:

(a) To an addressee or intended recipient of such communication or an agent of such addressee or intended recipient.
(b) As otherwise authorized in s. 934.03(2)(a), s. 934.07, or s. 934.23.
(c) With the lawful consent of the originator or an addressee or intended recipient of such communication, or the subscriber in the case of a remote computing service.
(d) To a person employed or authorized, or whose facilities are used, to forward such communication to its destination.
(e) As may be necessarily incident to the rendition of the service or to the protection of the rights or property of the provider of that service.
(f) To a law enforcement agency, if:

1. The contents were inadvertently obtained by the service provider;
2. The contents appear to pertain to the commission of a crime; or
3. The provider reasonably believes an emergency involving immediate danger of death or serious physical injury to another person requires disclosure of the contents without delay.
(3)(a) A provider described in subsection (1) may disclose a record or other information pertaining to a subscriber to or customer of such service:

1. As is otherwise authorized in s. 934.23.
2. With the lawful consent of the customer or subscriber.
3. As is necessary incident to rendering service or protecting the rights or property of the provider of that service.
4. To a governmental entity if the provider reasonably believes that an emergency involving immediate danger of death or serious physical injury to any person justifies disclosure of the information.
5. To any person other than a governmental entity.
(b) Notwithstanding paragraph (a), a provider may not disclose the contents of communications specified in paragraph (1)(a) or paragraph (1)(b).
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