Thanks to reader Aaron.

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Thanks for mentioning this, Lynda!

DeSantis promised the proposed bill would give Floridians more control over their data.

“The financial success of these big platforms, who are collecting and selling your personal information, has been built on their ability to do so without you realizing it, and effectively without your informed consent,” DeSantis said.

The bill would force tech companies to explain, in detail, to consumers exactly what information is being collected and ultimately give those consumers power over whether that information can be sold or even collected in the first place, according to the governor.

“In Florida, we’re gonna make sure consumers are in the driver’s seat to make that decision, not Silicon Valley or other global companies who are far more focused on their profits than on your privacy,” DeSantis said.

Sprowls added that the bill covers more businesses than just tech giants.

“It covers businesses with a global gross annual revenue over $25 million that buys, receives or sells information on 50,000 or more customers, households or devices or derives more than 50% of their global annual revenue from selling consumers’ personal information,” he said.

McFarland is the representative who filed the bill, calling it a “critical piece of legislation.”

“In our society, the amount of power that we have handed over to companies through the use of our data has resulted in an erosion of our right to privacy and an erosion of our ownership over our own identity,” the state representative said.

McFarland elaborated further that the bill, if passed, would ultimately give consumers the right to sue tech companies in the event of a data breach.

“Florida will reestablish our right to privacy and over our own personal information,” McFarland said.

Proud to stand with @GovRonDeSantis @LtGovNunez and Speaker @ChrisSprowls as Florida leads the nation in creating strong consumer data privacy protections that re-establish our right of our own personal data. pic.twitter.com/AGOB7UBnfZ

— Fiona McFarland (@FionaForFlorida) February 15, 2021