Will R. Daugherty and Caroline B. Brackeen of BakerHostetler write:
Texas is one of the many states that looked to be following in the footsteps of California’s enactment of a broad consumer privacy law (the California Consumer Privacy Act), which has far-ranging implications for businesses and consumers. Two comprehensive data privacy bills, HB 4390 and HB 4518, were filed and heard at the last legislative session. HB 4518, also known as the Texas Consumer Privacy Act, proposed overarching consumer protection legislation that closely resembled the California Consumer Privacy Act. HB 4518 stalled in the Texas House of Representatives in favor of HB 4390. HB 4390, also known as the Texas Privacy Protection Act, was introduced as comprehensive data privacy legislation, but was significantly less detailed than HB 4518. HB 4390 went through several rounds of revisions in both the Texas House and Senate until it was whittled down to the final version, which revises the notification requirements of the Texas Identity Theft Enforcement and Protection Act and creates the Texas Privacy Protection Advisory Council in order to develop recommendations for future data privacy legislation. HB 4390 has passed both the Texas House and Senate and is awaiting signature from the governor to be enacted.
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