Legislative History | Texas Data Law Authorities

Texas Data Privacy and Security Act

Bill: HB 4 · Session: 88th Legislature, Regular Session (2023) · Status: Enacted; in effect since July 1, 2024 · Effective: July 1, 2024; Section 541.055(e) effective January 1, 2025

HB 4 enacted the Texas Data Privacy and Security Act as Business and Commerce Code chapter 541. The Act applies to a person that conducts business in Texas or produces products or services Texas residents consume, processes or sells personal data, and is not a small business as defined by the U.S. Small Business Administration (Sec. 541.002(a)); small businesses still need consent before selling sensitive data (Sec. 541.107). Consumers may confirm, access, correct, delete, and port their data and opt out of targeted advertising, sales, and profiling in furtherance of decisions producing legal or similarly significant effects (Sec. 541.051). The Attorney General enforces the Act exclusively (Sec. 541.151), must give 30 days to cure (Sec. 541.154), and may seek civil penalties of up to $7,500 per violation (Sec. 541.155).

Tracker record: Texas Data Privacy and Security Act

Filing to enactment: The bill passed each chamber in substituted form: a House committee substitute reported March 20, 2023, and a Senate committee substitute reported May 8, 2023. The Senate amended the bill on the floor on May 10, 2023 (floor amendments FA1 Hughes and FA1 Menendez). The House refused to concur, and the final text came from a conference committee report adopted by both chambers on May 27-28, 2023, with the House adopting HR 2431 to go outside the bounds of the chambers' positions.

History

2023-02-16: Filed in the House by Capriglione (companion HB 1844, duplicate).
2023-02-23: Read first time; referred to Business and Industry.
2023-03-20: Reported favorably as substituted by the House committee.
2023-04-04: Passed to engrossment (Record Vote RV#83).
2023-04-05: Passed the House (Record Vote RV#88); statement of legislative intent recorded in the Journal; reported engrossed.
2023-05-01: Read first time in the Senate; referred to State Affairs.
2023-05-08: Reported favorably as substituted by the Senate committee (11-0).
2023-05-10: Senate floor amendments FA1 Hughes and FA1 Menendez offered and adopted; passed as amended.
2023-05-15: House refused to concur in the Senate amendments and requested a conference committee; House appointed conferees.
2023-05-17: Senate granted the request for a conference committee and appointed conferees.
2023-05-26: Conference committee report filed.
2023-05-27: Senate adopted the conference committee report.
2023-05-28: House adopted HR 2431, a resolution to go outside bounds, and adopted the conference committee report (Record Vote RV#2204); reported enrolled.
2023-05-29: Signed in the House and signed in the Senate.
2023-05-30: Sent to the Governor.
2023-06-18: Signed by the Governor.
2024-07-01: Act takes effect (Session Law: Acts 2023, 88th R.S., ch. 995).
2025-01-01: Section 541.055(e), the universal opt-out mechanism provision, takes effect.

Securing Children Online through Parental Empowerment (SCOPE) Act

Bill: HB 18 · Session: 88th Legislature, Regular Session (2023) · Status: Enacted; in effect since September 1, 2024 · Effective: September 1, 2024, except Article 3, which took effect immediately (June 13, 2023)

HB 18 enacted the SCOPE Act as Business and Commerce Code chapter 509. It regulates digital services that let users interact socially, keep a public or semi-public profile, and post content others can see (Sec. 509.002), and it sets duties toward known minors, defined as minors the provider knows to be minors (Sec. 509.001(4)); a minor is anyone under 18 whose disabilities of minority have not been removed (Sec. 509.001(5)). Duties include age registration (Sec. 509.051), limits on data collection, purchases, data sale and sharing, precise geolocation, and targeted advertising for known minors (Sec. 509.052), filtering of harmful material (Sec. 509.053), parental tools (Sec. 509.054), and adult age verification where more than one-third of knowingly published material is harmful or obscene (Sec. 509.057). The Attorney General enforces the Act through the DTPA (Sec. 509.151).

Tracker record: Texas SCOPE Act (HB 18)

Filing to enactment: The bill changed shape between the House and Senate versions. The House committee report version is a single-act bill whose caption covers digital services only and whose effective date is September 1, 2024. The Senate committee substitute, carried into the enrolled act, broadened the caption to add electronic devices, including the use and transfer of electronic devices to students by a public school, and restructured the act into five articles: Article 1 (short title), Article 2 (use of digital services by minors, adding chapter 509), Article 3 (use and transfer of electronic devices by students), Article 4 (study of the effects of media on minors), and Article 5 (transition and effective date). The enrolled effective-date provision makes Article 3 effective immediately and the rest of the Act effective September 1, 2024.

History

2023-02-16: Filed in the House by Slawson.
2023-04-18: Reported out of the House committee on Youth Health and Safety, Select (5 Ayes, 1 Nay, 2 Present Not Voting, 1 Absent).
2023-04-26: Voted on by the House (passed).
2023-05-04: Read first time in the Senate; referred to State Affairs.
2023-05-21: Reported adversely, with favorable Committee Substitute, by the Senate committee (Yeas 10, Nays 0).
2023-05-23: Voted on by the Senate (passed).
2023-06-13: Signed by the Governor (Session Law: Acts 2023, 88th R.S., ch. 795).
2023-06-13: Article 3 takes effect immediately (effective on the Governor's signature).
2024-09-01: Act takes effect, except Article 3.

App Store Accountability Act

Bill: SB 2420 · Session: 89th Legislature, Regular Session (2025) · Status: Enacted; effective January 1, 2026; preliminary injunctions stayed pending appeal · Effective: January 1, 2026

SB 2420 enacted the App Store Accountability Act as Business and Commerce Code chapter 121. It places age-verification and parental-consent duties on app stores and on the developers of apps offered through them to Texas users. An app store must verify the age category of a Texas account holder by a commercially reasonable method (Sec. 121.021), link each minor's account to a verified parent account, and obtain the parent's consent before every app download, app purchase, and in-app purchase (Sec. 121.022). A violation is a deceptive trade practice actionable under the DTPA (Sec. 121.101, 121.102).

Tracker record: Texas App Store Accountability Act (SB 2420)

Filing to enactment: The bill passed each chamber in substituted form: a Senate committee substitute reported April 7, 2025, and a House committee substitute reported April 23, 2025. The Senate amended the bill on the floor on April 16, 2025 (floor amendments FA1 and FA2 Paxton), and the House amended it on the floor on May 8, 2025 (amendment 2-Johnson adopted, amendment 1-Bryant withdrawn). The Senate concurred in the House amendments on May 14, 2025, so no conference committee was needed.

History

2025-03-13: Filed in the Senate by Paxton (companion HB 4901, same-as, left pending in committee).
2025-03-25: Read first time; referred to State Affairs.
2025-04-07: Reported favorably as substituted by the Senate committee (Yeas 10, Nays 0).
2025-04-16: Senate floor amendments FA1 Paxton and FA2 Paxton offered; passed as amended; reported engrossed.
2025-04-17: Received from the Senate in the House.
2025-04-22: Read first time in the House; referred to Trade, Workforce and Economic Development.
2025-04-23: Reported favorably as substituted by the House committee.
2025-05-08: House floor amendment 2-Johnson adopted; amendment 1-Bryant withdrawn; passed to third reading as amended (Record Vote RV#1785).
2025-05-09: Passed the House (Record Vote RV#1885).
2025-05-14: Senate concurred in the House amendments; reported enrolled.
2025-05-15: Signed in the Senate and signed in the House; sent to the Governor.
2025-05-27: Signed by the Governor.
2026-01-01: Act takes effect (Bus. & Com. Code ch. 121).
2025-12-23: District-court preliminary injunctions issued (litigation record: /tracker/sb-2420-litigation/).
2026-06-04: Fifth Circuit stayed the preliminary injunctions pending appeal (consolidated Nos. 25-51073 and 26-50001); the Supreme Court denied vacatur on July 6, 2026 and the Fifth Circuit heard argument August 4, 2026. No merits decision is established in the cited record.

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