Florida's Digital Bill of Rights: real rights, narrow reach

2026-11-10Editorial review: reviewed

Florida gives consumers access, correction, deletion, portability and several opt-outs, including for precise geolocation and voice/facial-recognition data. The catch is who the law applies to — and it is not everyone.

Data rightsConsumer privacySensitive personal information

Florida’s Digital Bill of Rights is a useful contrast to California’s approach, and a good test of whether you read the applicability section or only the rights section.

The rights themselves are broad. Section 501.705 gives a consumer the right to confirm whether a controller is processing their data and to access it; to correct inaccuracies; to delete personal data provided by or obtained about them; to obtain a portable copy; to opt out of targeted advertising, the sale of personal data, and certain profiling; to opt out of the collection or processing of sensitive data including precise geolocation; and to opt out of data collected through voice- or facial-recognition features. Subsection (3) also restricts using always-on device features for surveillance.

The catch is coverage. These rights are exercisable against businesses that qualify as “controllers” under Florida’s Act, and Florida sets real thresholds for that. Section 501.702 defines which businesses are covered — and it is not every company that holds or sells Florida residents’ personal information.

Why we pair the two citations. Citing only § 501.705 would let a reader assume a universal right. The honest statement is: if a business is a covered controller, these rights apply. If it is not, Florida’s statute does not reach it. That is exactly the kind of distinction this library exists to preserve.

Contrast with California. California layers a CCPA deletion/opt-out regime over a broker-specific registration and deletion system (the Delete Act and DROP). Florida provides consumer rights but no equivalent single-request deletion platform for data brokers. Same problem, different machinery — and different eligibility.

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