DeSantis signs data privacy bill

Gov. Ron DeSantis on Tuesday signed a wide-ranging bill designed to boost online privacy, including giving people more control over data collected by technology companies.

“This bill will give Floridians the ability to know what information big tech companies are collecting about them,” House bill sponsor Fiona McFarland, R-Sarasota, said. “It’s going to give Floridians the ability to ask them to delete it and get rid of it, if they don’t want them to have it anymore. It’s going to give Floridians the right to opt out of their information being sold or shared to the highest bidder for profit.”

The bill (SB 262), which focuses on large online companies, drew heavy lobbying throughout this year’s legislative session.

“When they do these platforms, when you’re signing up, you’re not charged for it,” DeSantis said during a bill-signing event in Wildwood.

“But they take your data, and they sell it to all of these vendors. They make a lot of money selling your data. Well, you should have the right to say, ‘No, I don’t want you selling my data.’ You now will with this bill.”