Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is intensifying efforts to curb the misuse of residents’ personal information by establishing a new team dedicated to enforcing the state’s data protection laws, including a comprehensive consumer data privacy law set to take effect next month.
In what the attorney general billed as “a major data privacy and security initiative,” Paxton revealed Tuesday that he has moved to create a team focused on the “aggressive enforcement” of the state’s privacy laws. This includes the new Data Privacy and Security Act and the Biometric Identifier Act, as well as federal laws safeguarding health and children’s data.
The team is “poised to become among the largest in the country focused on enforcing privacy laws,” according to Paxton. This initiative, which will be housed in his office’s consumer protection division, aims to ensure companies “respect Texans’ privacy rights and safeguard their personal data.”
“As many companies seek more and more ways to exploit data they collect about consumers, I am doubling down to protect privacy rights,” Paxton said in a statement. “With companies able to collect, aggregate, and use sensitive data on an unprecedented scale, we are strengthening our enforcement of privacy laws to protect our citizens.”
