Unlawful Access to Stored Communications
Florida Stored Communications Law
Communications
Florida's counterpart to the federal Stored Communications Act. It makes it a crime to access an electronic communication service facility without authorization and obtain, alter, or prevent access to messages in electronic storage. Conduct authorized by the service provider, or by the user for that user's own communications, is excepted.
- Where
- Florida
- Citation
- Fla. Stat. 934.21
- Status
- In force
- Enforced by
- State attorneys (criminal)
- People can sue
- No
- Penalties
- First-degree misdemeanor for a first offense committed for commercial advantage, malicious damage, or private gain (third-degree felony for repeat offenses); otherwise a second-degree misdemeanor (934.21(2)).
- Applies to
- Any person who, without authorization or by exceeding authorization, accesses a facility that provides an electronic communication service and obtains, alters, or blocks a stored communication (934.21(1))
Practices it requires
- Do not intentionally access, without or beyond authorization, a facility providing electronic communication service and thereby obtain, alter, or block access to a stored wire or electronic communication.Fla. Stat. 934.21(1)
Other duties
- Access authorized by the service provider, or by a user for communications of or intended for that user, is excepted.Fla. Stat. 934.21(3)
Sources
Checked against these sources on 2026-09-25 by research agent (Claude), primary sources.
Unverified: A civil remedy for stored-communications violations may exist elsewhere in ch. 934 (for example s. 934.27 or 934.28); not fetched, so private_right_of_action is recorded as 'no' for this section only. | Original effective date (ch. 88-184) not confirmed.
Research reference, not legal advice.