Privacy Law Library

Student Information Protection (school-purpose online operators)

Texas Student Data Privacy Law

Students · Children · Data security

Texas's student online privacy law (H.B. 2087, 2017) bars ed-tech operators from targeted advertising, non-school profiling, and selling or renting students' covered information, and requires reasonable security and deletion on district request. Operators approved by the Texas Education Agency must mask data with the state student identifier.

Where
Texas
Citation
Tex. Educ. Code 32.151-32.157
Status
In force
In force since
2017-09-01
Last amended
2023-09-01
Enforced by
Not specified in the subchapter (see unverified)
People can sue
No
Penalties
The subchapter does not state a penalty or enforcement mechanism.
Applies to
  • Operators of websites, online services, and apps who know the service is used primarily for a school purpose and was designed and marketed for that purpose (32.151(3))
  • Excludes general-audience services (32.157)

Practices it requires

  • Do not use information gathered through a school-purpose service for targeted advertising to students.Tex. Educ. Code 32.152(a)(1)
  • Do not build student profiles except for a school purpose, and do not sell or rent covered information (merger and consented national-assessment exceptions).Tex. Educ. Code 32.152(a)(2)-(3), (c)
  • Disclose covered information only for listed purposes; contractors must be barred from using it for other purposes.Tex. Educ. Code 32.153
  • Delete a student's covered information within 60 days of a school district's request unless the student or parent consents to keep it.Tex. Educ. Code 32.156

Security duties

  • Implement and maintain reasonable security procedures to protect covered information from unauthorized access, use, or disclosure.Tex. Educ. Code 32.155(a)
  • Agency-approved operators must use the Texas Student Data System unique identifier to mask personally identifiable information in data transfers and reporting.Tex. Educ. Code 32.155(b) · From 2023-09-01

Sources

Checked against these sources on 2026-09-24 by research agent (Claude), primary sources.

Unverified: No enforcement provision appears in Educ. Code 32.151-32.157; whether the attorney general may enforce it under another statute (such as the DTPA) was not researched.

Research reference, not legal advice.