alt Hacker NewsAccording to that page Texas also requires data brokers to register. As a Texan it seems unlikely that they do this to protect consumers. It feels more like they want to know who their market is as they surveil their citizens and rake in as much moola as possible. Identifying which broker will pay the highest premiums for real-time information about Texans' travel from license plate and traffic cameras, which businesses they visit, etc will allow them to get sweet kickbacks from the industry lobbyists who can openly pass around envelopes of cash on the floor of the legislature.
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Texas has robust laws against facial recognition (and biometrics in general), including winning a major lawsuit against Facebook. Texas also has pretty good privacy laws in general. Right now, flock cameras are still permitted - but there's been talk about cracking down on them. There are also a first set of restrictions on ALPRs - not as restrictive as I would like, but generally data can only be retained for people suspected of committing a crime.
If you are a Texas resident, you also have a right to request data deletion (or correction) from brokers or other sellers of data, and permanently opt out of personal data profiling for a wide swath of industries including insurance and finance purposes.
Texas is one of the best states for privacy laws, even though we can obviously do better. I'd still like to see a general prohibition on things like flock and more restrictions on ALPRs, but much better than most states.
>information about Texans' travel from license plate and traffic cameras, which businesses they visit
Texas is already doing this to track women seeking out-of-state healthcare. Whatever "side" you're on (for that argument): THIS. IS. WRONG.
In addition to ditching your cell phone, consider ditching Texas, too (as a Native™, I did so almost a decade ago). Still toying with the idea of expatriation, but honestly I feel too old for that, now =P
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We seem to have a lot in common, fellow retired Xeon user. My PO Box is in my profile.