Consistent with a press release issued on June 4, 2024, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton continues to demonstrate his intent to protect the privacy rights of Texas consumers. On this date, AG Paxton announced that his office has notified over 100 companies of their alleged non-compliance with the registration requirement of the Texas Data Broker Law.
The Data Broker Law, Tex. Bus. & Com. Code, Chapter 509, enacted in 2023, requires covered data brokers to file a registration statement with the Secretary of State of Texas, reflecting the following information:
- the data broker’s legal name;
- a contact person with primary physical address, email, telephone number, and website address;
- a description of the categories of data that the data broker processes and transfers;
- whether the data broker implements a purchaser credentialing process;
- whether the data broker has actual knowledge of its possession of personal data of a known child;
- a statement detailing the data collection practices, databases, sales activities, and opt-out policies applicable to personal data of a known child;
- a statement on how the data broker complies with applicable federal and state law regarding collection, use or disclosure of personal data from and about a child on the internet; and
- the number of security breaches the data broker has experienced during the preceding year and if known, the number of consumers affected by each breach.
A copy of the data broker registration form is accessible below. Initial registration by data brokers under the new law was required by March 1, 2024. See 1 Tex. Admin. Code § 106.3(c). A data broker that violates the registration requirement is subject to a civil penalty. See Tex. Bus. & Com. Code § 509.008. Eventually, data broker names and registration statements will be publicly accessible via the Texas Secretary of State website.
