Privacy laws govern the collection, use, storage, protection, sharing, and deletion of personally identifiable information (PII) of consumers and employees—and the disclosure to consumers of what PII a business has collected about them. Examples of PII include names, addresses, telephone numbers, credit card information, online user names and passwords, and health care information. Many states have privacy laws, and these laws vary from state to state.
In Texas, privacy laws related to the protection of personally identifiable information (PII) are governed by a combination of state statutes and federal law. The Texas Identity Theft Enforcement and Protection Act requires businesses to implement and maintain reasonable procedures to protect sensitive personal information from unlawful use or disclosure. This includes the secure destruction of such data when it is no longer needed. Additionally, the Texas Business and Commerce Code mandates notification of affected individuals in the event of a data breach involving their PII. Texas does not have a comprehensive consumer privacy law like California's CCPA or Virginia's CDPA, but it does have sector-specific laws, such as the Texas Health Services Authority Act, which regulates health care information. At the federal level, laws such as the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) and the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) provide additional protections for health information and children's information, respectively. Businesses operating in Texas must comply with these state and federal regulations to ensure the privacy and security of PII for both consumers and employees.
