Business Privacy in Florida
To protect your privacy in Florida, it is best to first understand how your privacy is violated.
Efforts to increase transparency in government have left small business owners across Florida with few choices to avoid exposing their personal information to anyone with an internet connection. We’ve come a long way from being warned to never use our real names or give our addresses online—but that doesn’t mean we can’t make an effort to keep our personal information to ourselves.
Want to stay absolutely anonymous in the Sunshine State? We’ve got a solution.
Understanding the Florida Public Records Act
Thanks to this act, Florida’s public records are open and accessible to anyone, at any time.
The Florida Public Records Act began in 1909 with the passage of Chapter 119 of the Florida State Statutes. The law requires that all records made or received by a public agency be made available to the public when requested.
These records include all business filings made with state, county and local agencies, so any names and addresses you include on those filings (including your Florida business address) will be freely available to the public. That can include filings like:
- Articles of Incorporation
- Articles of Organization
- Florida Annual Reports
Known as the Sunshine Law, these statutes are not necessarily poor legislation, but it is important to realize that the law is not concerned with how to protect your privacy in Florida. The goal of the law is transparency in government. To protect your identity, business owners need a strategy that works within the law and achieves their goal of true privacy in Florida.
How the Public Records Law Affects Privacy in Florida
When you file formation documents, you must list a principal office address or business address.
This would be your place of business (or your home, if you work from there). Once filed, your address becomes public information.
Each year, you are required to file an annual report requiring the name of a manager or member.
If you are the sole owner of your company and make its controlling decisions, that member or manager is you. Once processed, your name becomes public information.
These documents are entered into the records of the Department of State, and they can be accessed in two ways: through an online business search, or in person at the DOS office. Anyone who knows the name of your company can easily retrieve, read, copy and print these documents whenever they want.
To protect your privacy in Florida, these documents must list something other than your personal information.
We currently have an LLC in Georgia and will be expanding our business to Florida. For this, we needed a Resident Agent to submit the necessary applications. Lindsey Anderson was great! She walked me through the process and made this bureaucratic task seamless. She was knowledgeable and efficient. Highly recommended.
Keeping Your Information Out of the Public Record
If you want to protect your identity, you need to hire a professional Florida registered agent.
If you hire us, we can file your formation documents and use our Florida business address on your filing instead of your own. This is the first step for protecting your privacy in Florida.
We can also help you keep your name off your annual report. This requires that you form two Florida limited liability companies, both of which will use our Florida business address. Each LLC will be listed as manager for the other, so when the annual reports are filed, it is the companies that are listed as managers, not you. This is a Double (Private) Florida LLC structure, and it will protect your identity if properly set up and maintained.
Here’s a quick look at how it works.
- We’ll file the Articles of Organization for two LLCs as your organizer.
Each LLC will manage the other, which keeps your name from entering the public record. Plus, we’ll give each LLC our business address, keeping your own address private.
- Each year, we’ll file each LLC’s Annual Report, listing ourselves as the authorized person.
Each LLC uses our business address and manages the other, keeping your personal address private, and authorizing us as your registered agents to complete the forms lets you avoid putting your personal contact information into the public record.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I remove my information from the public record?
Once your information has been publicized, it cannot be removed, and you can no longer protect your identity in Florida.
If your privacy is critical to you, your best strategy is to dissolve your company and start over. Dissolution won’t remove the records already there, but it will prevent any further records from accumulating.
How does a registered agent protect my privacy?
Your registered agent can list their location on certain documents as your principal address, which keeps your information private. If you are serious about wanting to protect your identity, you should select a reliable Florida registered agent before making any filing with the Division of Corporations.
When you hire Florida Registered Agent LLC, you’ll get free use of our Florida business address everywhere permitted on state filings.
How do I create an anonymous LLC in Florida?
We can form an anonymous LLC for you with our Double (Private) Florida LLC structure. We form two LLCs instead of one. One LLC will be your public-facing business, and the other Florida LLC will serve as its manager (and vice versa). With this structure, we keep your personal information out of the public record.
Unfortunately, you cannot do this yourself. It requires a registered office address to provide on your formation documents instead of your own principal office location. Order our Double LLC package to get your private LLC.
Can I create an anonymous corporation in Florida?
Unfortunately, there is no way to form a completely anonymous Florida corporation and protect your privacy.
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