Public records exemption; Lifeline Assistance Plan participants.

(1) Personal identifying information of a participant in a telecommunications carrier’s Lifeline Assistance Plan under s. 364.10 held by the Public Service Commission is confidential and exempt from s. 119.07(1) and s. 24(a), Art. I of the State Constitution.

(2) Information made confidential and exempt under subsection (1) may be released to the applicable telecommunications carrier, or to the Federal Communications Commission or its designee, for purposes directly connected with eligibility for, verification related to, or auditing of a Lifeline Assistance Plan.

(3)(a) An officer or employee of a telecommunications carrier shall not intentionally disclose information made confidential and exempt under subsection (1), except as:

1. Authorized by the customer;

2. Necessary for billing purposes;

3. Required by subpoena, court order, or other process of court;

4. Necessary to disclose to an agency as defined in s. 119.011 or a governmental entity for purposes directly connected with implementing service for, or verifying eligibility of, a participant in a Lifeline Assistance Plan or auditing a Lifeline Assistance Plan; or

5. Otherwise authorized by law.

(b) Nothing in this section precludes a telecommunications carrier from disclosing information made confidential and exempt under subsection (1) to the extent such information is otherwise publicly available or from disclosing to a customer his or her own account record through telephonic means.

(4) Any officer or employee of a telecommunications carrier or of the Public Service Commission who intentionally discloses information in violation of this section commits a misdemeanor of the second degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082 or s. 775.083.