Texas AG Ken Paxton launches new team to prosecute online privacy and security cases

TEXAS, USA — Editor's note: This story was originally published in the Texas Tribune here. 

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton launched a major data privacy and security initiative Tuesday, establishing a team that will focus on enforcing Texas privacy laws.

The initiative will ensure companies respect Texans’ privacy rights and safeguard their personal data, according to Paxton’s office.

“Any entity abusing or exploiting Texans’ sensitive data will be met with the full force of the law. Companies that collect and sell data in an unauthorized manner, harm consumers financially, or use artificial intelligence irresponsibly present risks to our citizens that we take very seriously,” Paxton said in a Tuesday statement.

Paxton has filed several lawsuits against tech giants related to these issues in the last few years.

In 2022 he sued Meta, Facebook’s parent company, for allegedly using unau­tho­rized bio­met­ric data. Paxton’s office accused Meta of storing millions of biometric identifiers contained in users’ photos and videos, often without consent, and illegally exploiting the personal information of users and non-users. The lawsuit could be settled with a deal in the next few weeks, according to Reuters.

Paxton also sued Google in 2022, accusing the company of illegally collecting and indefinitely storing information about Texans’ facial geometry and voiceprints without their consent, regardless of whether they are Google users.

Paxton’s office said Tuesday the new data privacy team will focus on enforcing Texas’ privacy protection laws like the Data Privacy and Security Act, which was approved last year. The new law requires all businesses to obtain users’ consent before processing their sensitive personal data. The law also allows Texans to access any data a company has about them, delete it or ask the company to stop collecting it for targeted advertising or to sell it.

The new team will also seek to enforce other state laws related to biometric identifiers and deceptive practices as well as federal child online safety and health privacy laws.