Why hasn’t Florida agency released restaurant closure information in weeks?

Local 10 viewers want to know where their Dirty Dining reports are.

For the past two weeks, the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation has limited public information on their website.

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According to the department, DBPR’s information security infrastructure identified instances of malicious activity on the site on Oct. 7.

The department took immediate security response measures to identify and contain the cause of the malicious system activity and to prevent any compromise of department systems and data.

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement is investigating.

Last week, Local 10 News Investigator Jeff Weinsier asked the DBPR’s Communications Office to provide a list of restaurants ordered shut for the past several weeks.

No information has been provided.

Local 10 News has made the request again Monday.

“Restaurant inspections will be uploaded to the site once it has been restored. Unfortunately, communications does not have them available at this time due to the system and iPad upload procedures. Thanks for your patience,” said Karen Smith, Director of Communications for the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation.

Local 10 has asked Smith to provide a list of closures via email so South Floridians don’t have to wait until the site is up for this public information.

“These system limitations are anticipated to continue until all systems and system functions are cleared for access by users. Importantly, to date, the Department has not identified any evidence that suggests a breach of any personally identifiable information,” Secretary Halsey Beshears said in a news release.

During fiscal year 2018-19, the Bureau of Sanitation and Safety Inspections (BSSI) accomplished 163,324 inspection activities of the 102,977 licensed food service and lodging establishments in the state.


About the Author:

Jeff Weinsier joined Local 10 News in September 1994. He is currently an investigative reporter for Local 10. He is also responsible for the very popular Dirty Dining segments.