The bill amends various sections of Florida Statutes to address the confidentiality of trade secrets held by agencies and other entities. Notably, it removes the scheduled repeal of the exemption for trade secrets from public record requirements under section 119.0715, effectively making this exemption permanent. Additionally, the bill deletes references to trade secrets from multiple public records exemptions across various statutes, including sections related to antitrust violations, economic development, and public records confidentiality.

The amendments clarify that proprietary business information, which is intended to be private and treated as such by the business, will continue to be protected, but the specific designation of "trade secrets" as defined in section 688.002 is removed from these exemptions. This change aims to streamline the legal language and ensure that the protection of sensitive business information remains intact without explicitly labeling it as trade secrets. The bill is set to take effect upon becoming law.

Statutes affected:
H 7017 Filed: 119.0715, 287.137, 334.049, 408.185, 440.108, 497.172, 501.171, 501.1735, 501.2041, 501.722, 520.9965, 548.062, 559.5558, 569.215, 627.0628