The Texas Data Privacy and Security Act took effect July 1, 2024. Texas is the second-largest state with a comprehensive privacy law. Most Texans have never heard of it.
What the TDPSA Gives You
The law covers any company doing business in Texas or serving Texas residents. The thresholds are low. Smaller businesses fall under it, not just the usual Fortune 500 targets.
Your rights: access your data, correct it, delete it, port it, and opt out of targeted advertising, data sales, and profiling. The Texas AG enforces it at $7,500 per violation. In September 2025, Texas expanded its data broker law with broader definitions and stricter transparency rules.
The Surveillance Reality
Houston PD runs one of the largest municipal facial recognition programs in the country. No statewide restrictions exist on government use. Texas law enforcement adopted the technology early and aggressively.
License plate readers blanket Houston and Dallas-Fort Worth. Deputies used Flock Safety’s ALPR network to track a woman who obtained an abortion. That happened. A surveillance system sold as a crime-fighting tool was used to monitor reproductive healthcare.
Texas shares 1,254 miles of border with Mexico. ICE pulls from commercial databases, plate reader networks, facial recognition systems, and data broker records. Local police search Flock’s database on ICE’s behalf.
Your name, address, phone, email, property records, and vehicle registration sit on dozens of broker sites right now.
What to Do About It
Opt out of data brokers. Spokeo, BeenVerified, WhitePages, Radaris, TruePeopleSearch, FastPeopleSearch. Cite the TDPSA in every request. The $7,500 penalty makes companies pay attention.
Audit your face. PimEyes, FaceCheck.ID, Google Lens, Yandex, TinEye. With Houston’s program running unchecked, you need to know where your face lives online.
Check vehicle exposure. DeFlock.me maps plate readers in your area. Opt out of plate lookup sites. Kill connected car data sharing.
Disable ad tracking. iPhone: Settings > Privacy & Security > Tracking > off. Android: Settings > Privacy > Ads > Delete advertising ID.
Harden social media. Private profiles, kill facial recognition, strip tagged photos, disconnect linked accounts, remove EXIF data.
Monitor for re-listing. Brokers re-acquire your data constantly. Check quarterly or set up ongoing monitoring.
The Point
Texas gave its residents real privacy rights. Texas also built one of the most aggressive surveillance states in the country. Both things are true. The law only works if you use it. In a state where plate readers track abortion seekers and ICE taps commercial data pipelines, sitting on your rights is not an option.
— J. Daniel, Dark Scrub