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According 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 the

According 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.

ProllyInfamous 9mo ago
>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 ---- We seem to have a lot in common, fellow retired Xeon user. My PO Box is in my profile.
- wat10000 9mo ago
  I’m pretty sure the “abortion is murder” side will not consider it wrong to track women who travel out of state to, as they see it, murder a baby.
  - ProllyInfamous 9mo ago
    I just wish this pro-birth crowd were actually pro-life (e.g. child care, health care, education). It seems mostly all they actually want is replacement slaves, chattel.
    - W0lfEagle 9mo ago
      Right? Pro-birth pro-guns.
    - amanaplanacanal 9mo ago
      Recently saw a video of some pro-life preacher explaining that he would not donate baby formula for a young mother that he saw as "whoring around". If the hell that he professes to believe in is real, he's definitely going there.
      - ProllyInfamous 9mo ago
        Forever and ever, amen... I believe it was that same "baby formula survey" that showed the non-christian facilities had a higher chance of donating formula. Hell is real — it's here on earth — and we create it best for ourselves.
    - wat10000 9mo ago
      It’s a rules-based morality. The rules say, punish those who get abortions. The rules don’t say, provide public assistance for health care. There’s a massive disconnect between people with rules-based morality and people with outcome-based morality. I often see people arguing against abortion bans by saying that they don’t actually cut down on the number of abortions, they just make them more dangerous. Which is entirely missing the point. They don’t want any particular outcome. They don’t want to save babies, nor do they want replacement slaves. They want the state to punish abortions. That’s the goal in and of itself, it’s not the means to an end. I don’t endorse any of this. But I think it’s important to understand how people actually think. If you imagine your understanding of morality in someone with a completely different approach, and try to reverse engineer their thinking from their actions on that basis, you’ll end up with something completely wrong.
      - ProllyInfamous 9mo ago
        >There’s a massive disconnect between people with rules-based morality and people with outcome-based morality ... it’s important to understand how people actually think. My most-sobering book read in 2025 was Tim Urban's What's Our Problem — it definitely helped me better understand my two lawyerbros — there is an inner gollum driving everybody, and we need to ascend towards higher thinking. [•] <https://www.amazon.com/Whats-Our-Problem-Self-Help-Societies/dp/B0DNV65MDG/ https://www.amazon.com/Whats-Our-Problem-Self-Help-Societies...> Thanks for your perspective.
vorpalhex 9mo ago
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.

ProllyInfamous 9mo ago

>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 ---- We seem to have a lot in common, fellow retired Xeon user. My PO Box is in my profile.

wat10000 9mo ago
I’m pretty sure the “abortion is murder” side will not consider it wrong to track women who travel out of state to, as they see it, murder a baby.
- ProllyInfamous 9mo ago
  I just wish this pro-birth crowd were actually pro-life (e.g. child care, health care, education). It seems mostly all they actually want is replacement slaves, chattel.
  - W0lfEagle 9mo ago
    Right? Pro-birth pro-guns.
  - amanaplanacanal 9mo ago
    Recently saw a video of some pro-life preacher explaining that he would not donate baby formula for a young mother that he saw as "whoring around". If the hell that he professes to believe in is real, he's definitely going there.
    - ProllyInfamous 9mo ago
      Forever and ever, amen... I believe it was that same "baby formula survey" that showed the non-christian facilities had a higher chance of donating formula. Hell is real — it's here on earth — and we create it best for ourselves.
  - wat10000 9mo ago
    It’s a rules-based morality. The rules say, punish those who get abortions. The rules don’t say, provide public assistance for health care. There’s a massive disconnect between people with rules-based morality and people with outcome-based morality. I often see people arguing against abortion bans by saying that they don’t actually cut down on the number of abortions, they just make them more dangerous. Which is entirely missing the point. They don’t want any particular outcome. They don’t want to save babies, nor do they want replacement slaves. They want the state to punish abortions. That’s the goal in and of itself, it’s not the means to an end. I don’t endorse any of this. But I think it’s important to understand how people actually think. If you imagine your understanding of morality in someone with a completely different approach, and try to reverse engineer their thinking from their actions on that basis, you’ll end up with something completely wrong.
    - ProllyInfamous 9mo ago
      >There’s a massive disconnect between people with rules-based morality and people with outcome-based morality ... it’s important to understand how people actually think. My most-sobering book read in 2025 was Tim Urban's What's Our Problem — it definitely helped me better understand my two lawyerbros — there is an inner gollum driving everybody, and we need to ascend towards higher thinking. [•] <https://www.amazon.com/Whats-Our-Problem-Self-Help-Societies/dp/B0DNV65MDG/ https://www.amazon.com/Whats-Our-Problem-Self-Help-Societies...> Thanks for your perspective.

vorpalhex 9mo ago

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.