| |
| |
|
|
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
|
|
|
AN ACT
|
|
|
relating to prohibiting the use of Chinese technology to collect, |
|
|
process, transfer, or store biometric, genetic, or medical data; |
|
|
creating a criminal offense. |
|
|
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
|
|
SECTION 1. Subtitle A, Title 11, Business & Commerce Code, |
|
|
is amended by adding Chapter 511 to read as follows: |
|
|
CHAPTER 511. PROTECTION OF BIOMETRIC, GENETIC, OR MEDICAL DATA |
|
|
Sec. 511.001. DEFINITIONS. In this chapter: |
|
|
(1) "Biometric data" and "genetic data" have the |
|
|
meanings assigned by Section 509.001, as added by Chapter 963 (S.B. |
|
|
2105), Acts of the 88th Legislature, Regular Session, 2023. |
|
|
(2) "Medical data" means data created or obtained in |
|
|
the course of providing health care services that relates to an |
|
|
individual's past, present, or future physical or mental health. |
|
|
(3) "Person owned by, controlled by, or subject to the |
|
|
jurisdiction or direction of the People's Republic of China" means: |
|
|
(A) a person who acts as an agent, |
|
|
representative, or employee, or a person who acts in any other |
|
|
capacity at the order, request, or under the direction or control, |
|
|
of the People's Republic of China or of a person whose activities |
|
|
are directly or indirectly supervised, directed, controlled, |
|
|
financed, or subsidized in whole or in majority part by the People's |
|
|
Republic of China; |
|
|
(B) a person who is a citizen or resident of the |
|
|
People's Republic of China or a country controlled by the People's |
|
|
Republic of China and is not a United States citizen or permanent |
|
|
resident of the United States; |
|
|
(C) a corporation, partnership, association, or |
|
|
other entity with a principal place of business in, headquartered |
|
|
in, chartered or incorporated in, or otherwise organized under the |
|
|
laws of the People's Republic of China or a country controlled by |
|
|
the People's Republic of China; or |
|
|
(D) a corporation, partnership, association, or |
|
|
other entity that is owned or controlled by the People's Republic of |
|
|
China, to include circumstances in which any person identified in |
|
|
Paragraphs (A), (B), and (C) possesses the power, direct or |
|
|
indirect, whether or not exercised, through the ownership of a |
|
|
majority or a dominant minority of the total outstanding voting |
|
|
interest in an entity, board representation, proxy voting, a |
|
|
special share, contractual arrangements, formal or informal |
|
|
arrangements to act in concert, or other means, to determine, |
|
|
direct, or decide important matters affecting an entity. |
|
|
Sec. 511.002. APPLICABILITY. This chapter applies only to |
|
|
a person, including a business entity, that collects, processes, |
|
|
transfers, or stores the biometric, genetic, or medical data of |
|
|
residents of this state. |
|
|
Sec. 511.003. PROHIBITED USE OF CHINESE TECHNOLOGY; |
|
|
OFFENSE. (a) A person subject to this chapter may not use |
|
|
technology designed, developed, manufactured, or supplied by |
|
|
persons owned by, controlled by, or subject to the jurisdiction or |
|
|
direction of the People's Republic of China to collect, process, |
|
|
transfer, or store the biometric, genetic, or medical data of a |
|
|
resident of this state. |
|
|
(b) A person commits an offense if the person knowingly |
|
|
violates Subsection (a). |
|
|
(c) An offense under this section is a Class A misdemeanor, |
|
|
except that the offense is a state jail felony if the actor has |
|
|
previously been convicted of an offense under this section. |
|
|
(d) For purposes of this section, an actor is presumed to |
|
|
have knowingly violated Subsection (a) if it is shown on the trial |
|
|
of the offense that the attorney general previously issued an |
|
|
injunction against the actor under Section 511.004 and the actor |
|
|
continued to engage in conduct in violation of Subsection (a). |
|
|
Sec. 511.004. ENFORCEMENT BY ATTORNEY GENERAL: INJUNCTION. |
|
|
If the attorney general believes that a person has violated or is |
|
|
violating Section 511.003, the attorney general may bring an action |
|
|
on behalf of the state to enjoin the person from violating that |
|
|
section. |
|
|
Sec. 511.005. NO PRIVATE RIGHT OF ACTION. This chapter does |
|
|
not create a private right of action. |
|
|
SECTION 2. It is the intent of the 89th Legislature, Regular |
|
|
Session, 2025, that the amendments made by this Act be harmonized |
|
|
with another Act of the 89th Legislature, Regular Session, 2025, |
|
|
relating to nonsubstantive additions to and corrections in enacted |
|
|
codes. |
|
|
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025. |