Data Security Law

We advise Florida businesses on the full range of legal obligations that arise from collecting and storing personal data, from building the contractual and policy framework that governs how data is protected, to managing the legal response when a breach or security incident occurs. Data security legal work sits at the intersection of privacy law, contract law, regulatory compliance, and litigation risk.

The businesses that handle data security well treat it as a legal infrastructure issue, not just a technology issue. The right contracts, policies, and incident response procedures determine the legal outcome when something goes wrong, and those need to be in place before the incident happens.

• Security Program Legal Review: reviewing the legal adequacy of the business's data security program against applicable Florida and federal requirements and identifying gaps that create legal exposure.
• Data Security Policies and Procedures: drafting the written information security policies, access control procedures, and incident response plans that support legal requirements and reasonable care.
• Vendor Security Contracts: reviewing and negotiating contracts with vendors, processors, and service providers who access or handle personal data on the business's behalf.
• Breach Response Management: managing the legal response to a data security incident, including breach determination, notification obligations, regulatory coordination, and litigation exposure assessment.
• Regulatory Security Investigations: representing businesses in regulatory investigations and enforcement actions arising from data security failures.
• Security Incident Litigation: advising businesses on litigation exposure following a security incident and defending against claims brought by affected individuals or regulators.

Florida law imposes specific data security obligations on businesses that collect personal information about Florida residents. The Florida Information Protection Act requires businesses to take reasonable measures to protect personal information and to notify affected individuals within 30 days when a breach occurs. The Florida Digital Bill of Rights adds additional security requirements for businesses that meet its applicability thresholds.

Most businesses do not fully understand what Florida law requires of their security program until a breach or regulatory inquiry forces the issue. Understanding the legal standard for reasonable security under Florida law before an incident occurs is the most effective way to reduce exposure when something goes wrong.

• Florida Information Protection Act compliance: understanding the security and breach notification obligations that apply to businesses collecting personal information about Florida residents.
• Reasonable security standard analysis: assessing whether the business's current security measures meet the legal standard applicable to its size, industry, and the sensitivity of the data it holds.
• Written information security program development: drafting the written security policies and procedures to support the business’s legal obligations.
• Florida Digital Bill of Rights security requirements: understanding the additional data protection and security obligations that apply to businesses subject to Florida's comprehensive privacy law.

When a data security incident occurs, the legal response has to move on a compressed timeline. Florida's 30-day notification requirement begins running from the date the business determines a breach has occurred, and federal sector-specific laws impose their own timelines that may be shorter. The decisions made in the first hours and days after an incident shape the legal exposure for months afterward.

We manage the legal response to data security incidents, guiding the business through breach determination, notification obligations, regulatory coordination, and the documentation that will be critical if litigation or regulatory action follows.

• Breach determination analysis: assessing whether a security incident triggers legal notification obligations under Florida and applicable federal law.
• Notification drafting and coordination: preparing required notifications to affected individuals, state regulators, and law enforcement within applicable deadlines.
• Attorney-client privilege protection: structuring the breach investigation to maximize the protection of sensitive findings under attorney-client privilege.
• Post-breach regulatory response: managing communications with the Florida attorney general and other regulators in the aftermath of a breach.

Most data security incidents involve a vendor or third-party service provider. A payroll processor, a cloud storage provider, a marketing platform, or a software vendor with access to the business's systems or customer data is a potential source of breach exposure that the business may have limited visibility into. The contract governing that relationship determines what the business can recover when the vendor's failure causes a breach.

We review and negotiate vendor contracts to ensure the business's security obligations flow down to the vendors that create security risk, and that the business has meaningful remedies when a vendor's security failure causes harm.

• Vendor security obligation requirements: ensuring contracts with data processors and service providers require security measures appropriate to the data being handled.
• Breach notification requirements in vendor contracts: securing the vendor's obligation to notify the business promptly when a security incident affecting the business's data occurs.
• Indemnification and liability provisions: negotiating terms that give the business meaningful recovery rights when a vendor's security failure causes a breach.
• Audit and assessment rights: preserving the business's ability to verify vendor security practices and assess vendor compliance with contractual security obligations.

Many Florida businesses operate in industries with security requirements that go beyond general state law. Healthcare businesses are subject to HIPAA's Security Rule. Financial services businesses face Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act security requirements enforced by the FTC Safeguards Rule. Businesses that process payment card data operate under PCI DSS requirements. Each of these creates a distinct legal compliance obligation that interacts with Florida's general data security law.

We advise businesses on the security requirements that apply to their specific industry and data types, building compliance programs that address all applicable requirements without duplicating effort across overlapping frameworks.

• HIPAA Security Rule compliance: advising healthcare businesses and their business associates on the administrative, physical, and technical safeguards required under federal law.
• FTC Safeguards Rule compliance: advising financial services businesses on the written information security program requirements enforced by the Federal Trade Commission.
• Payment card security legal obligations: advising businesses on the contractual and legal implications of PCI DSS requirements and breach liability in the payment card context.
• Multi-framework compliance coordination: building security programs that satisfy multiple overlapping regulatory requirements without creating unnecessary operational complexity.

Data security legal counsel that understands business operations approaches the work differently from counsel that only knows the regulatory requirements. The legal framework for data security has to work within the operational realities of the business, and the incident response program has to be something the business can actually execute when a breach occurs at 2 in the morning.

Pomeranz Law provides practical, business-focused data security legal counsel that helps Florida businesses meet their security obligations, protect themselves contractually, and respond effectively when an incident occurs.

• We assess what the law actually requires for your specific business, data types, and industry, not a generic security checklist.
• We build incident response programs that the business can execute under pressure, with the legal framework already in place.
• We manage breach response in real time: because the decisions made in the first 48 hours shape the legal outcome for months.
• Transparent, practical counsel without the overhead of a large firm.