Capture or Use of Biometric Identifier Act
CUBI
Biometric
Requires notice and consent before capturing biometric identifiers for a commercial purpose, limits their sale or disclosure, and requires secure storage and timely destruction. H.B. 149 (2025) clarified that a publicly available image alone does not supply consent unless the individual posted it, and added AI-related exemptions.
- Where
- Texas
- Citation
- Tex. Bus. & Com. Code 503.001
- Status
- In force
- In force since
- 2009-04-01
- Last amended
- 2026-01-01
- Enforced by
- Texas Attorney General
- People can sue
- No
- Penalties
- Civil penalty up to $25,000 per violation, recoverable by the attorney general (503.001(d)).
- Applies to
- Any person that captures a biometric identifier (retina or iris scan, fingerprint, voiceprint, or record of hand or face geometry) of an individual for a commercial purpose (503.001(a)-(b))
- Exempts financial-institution voiceprints and, since 2026, most AI model training and security or fraud uses that do not uniquely identify a specific individual (503.001(e))
What a privacy notice must say
- Inform the individual and obtain consent before capturing a biometric identifier for a commercial purpose.Tex. Bus. & Com. Code 503.001(b)
Practices it requires
- Do not sell, lease, or disclose biometric identifiers except for listed purposes (disappearance or death with consent, requested financial transactions, legal requirement, or law enforcement warrant).Tex. Bus. & Com. Code 503.001(c)(1)
- Destroy biometric identifiers within a reasonable time and no later than one year after the collection purpose expires; employer security purposes are presumed to expire at termination.Tex. Bus. & Com. Code 503.001(c)(3), (c-1), (c-2)
Security duties
- Store, transmit, and protect biometric identifiers with reasonable care, at least as protectively as other confidential information.Tex. Bus. & Com. Code 503.001(c)(2)
Other duties
- Images or media online do not by themselves count as notice or consent unless the individual made them public.Tex. Bus. & Com. Code 503.001(b-1) · From 2026-01-01
Sources
- Official text
- Tex. Bus. & Com. Code ch. 503 (Texas Legislature, Texas Constitution and Statutes)
- Tex. Bus. & Com. Code ch. 503, statute text file served by the Texas Legislative Council
- H.B. 149 (89R) bill history (Texas Legislature Online)
Checked against these sources on 2026-09-24 by research agent (Claude), primary sources.
Unverified: effective_date is the current codification date (H.B. 2278, 2007, eff. April 1, 2009); the pre-codification predecessor statute was not traced.
Research reference, not legal advice.