Florida Security of Communications Act (FSCA) Lawsuits: Defending E-Commerce Businesses.
Updated: Sep 16
South Florida lawyers are using a 1969 wiretap statute to sue ecommerce websites over online tools: live chat, chatbots, tracking pixels, and session-replay software. The statute is the Florida Security of Communications Act (FSCA), Chapter 934 of the Florida Statutes, and FSCA lawsuits are surging in Florida. If your business is facing an FSCA lawsuit, read more about the FSCA law below, and contact our law firm for more assistance and information.
What the FSCA Requires, and what Florida Security of Communications Act (FSCA) Lawsuits Allege
The FSCA makes it unlawful to intercept a wire, oral, or electronic communication unless all parties consent in advance. Florida is an all-party consent state. That is stricter than federal wiretap law, which generally allows one-party consent. A private plaintiff can sue under section 934.10 for liquidated damages of $100 per day of violation or $1,000, whichever is greater, plus possible punitive damages and attorney’s fees. Actual harm is not required. That combination—statutory dollars plus fees—is why volume filings work.
Small Claims Volume FSCA Lawsuits
If a website visitor types a message and the site records it through a third-party widget without prior consent, several courts have allowed FSCA claims to proceed past a motion to dismiss. Recording the words of the chat looks to courts a lot like like intercepting contents. Florida also currently ranks second only to California in website-tracking privacy suits (cookies cases).
Firms such as Johnson Dalal in Plantation, Florida (Broward County), are actively litigating these cases through summary judgment and trial. Florida small claims cases generally cap damages at $8,000, exlusive of recoverable costs and attorney's fees. Attorney Veronika Balbuzanova has filed these cases involving website chat communications that were recorded without a prior consent banner, asserting claims under the Florida Security of Communications Act and for invasion of provacy. Filing is cheap. Defendaing in another state is not.
Practical Steps for Site Owners
Inventory every third-party script on product, cart, checkout, account, and chat pages. Know what each vendor receives.
Treat live chat as a recorded call. Display clear notice and obtain consent before the first message is logged or sent to a vendor.
Delay marketing pixels until the visitor accepts a consent banner. Honor Global Privacy Control where you claim to.
Do not rely on a buried privacy policy as “prior consent.” FSCA plaintiffs argue consent must come before interception.
If served, calendar every deadline. Small-claims pretrials often land in 45–60 days. Preserve the live site and tag configuration as they existed on the visit date.
Fix the tool first, then negotiate. Removing or reconfiguring chat recording and pixels is both a defense fact and a future-risk cut.
A privacy overlay that loads after scripts have already fired will not help. Neither will ignoring a Broward summons because the company is incorporated elsewhere. Selling to Florida customers through an interactive storefront is usually enough for plaintiffs to plead jurisdiction.
If your business has recieved an FSCA lawsuit in Florida, contact us to discuss the next steps to take.
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