Tex. Business & Commerce Code § 509.001
This is the official text of Tex. Business & Commerce Code § 509.001, part of Texas’s Business & Commerce Code — governs commercial transactions and general business practices.
Not legal advice. This page reproduces the official text of a government statute for reference only. Laws change, and how a statute applies depends on your specific facts. For advice about your situation, consult a licensed attorney in your state.
§ 509.001. DEFINITIONS.
Official statutory text
In this chapter:
(1) "Digital service" means a website, an application, a program, or software that collects or processes personal identifying information with Internet connectivity.
(2) "Digital service provider" means a person who:
(A) owns or operates a digital service;
(B) determines the purpose of collecting and processing the personal identifying information of users of the digital service; and
(C) determines the means used to collect and process the personal identifying information of users of the digital service.
(3) "Harmful material" has the meaning assigned by Section 43.24, Penal Code.
(4) "Known minor" means a person that a digital service provider knows to be a minor.
(5) "Minor" means a child who is younger than 18 years of age who has not had the disabilities of minority removed for general purposes.
(6) "Personal identifying information" means any information, including sensitive information, that is linked or reasonably linkable to an identified or identifiable individual. The term includes pseudonymous information when the information is used by a controller or processor in conjunction with additional information that reasonably links the information to an identified or identifiable individual. The term does not include deidentified information or publicly available information.
(7) "Verified parent" means the parent or guardian of a known minor whose identity and relationship to the minor have been verified by a digital service provider under Section 509.101.
(1) "Digital service" means a website, an application, a program, or software that collects or processes personal identifying information with Internet connectivity.
(2) "Digital service provider" means a person who:
(A) owns or operates a digital service;
(B) determines the purpose of collecting and processing the personal identifying information of users of the digital service; and
(C) determines the means used to collect and process the personal identifying information of users of the digital service.
(3) "Harmful material" has the meaning assigned by Section 43.24, Penal Code.
(4) "Known minor" means a person that a digital service provider knows to be a minor.
(5) "Minor" means a child who is younger than 18 years of age who has not had the disabilities of minority removed for general purposes.
(6) "Personal identifying information" means any information, including sensitive information, that is linked or reasonably linkable to an identified or identifiable individual. The term includes pseudonymous information when the information is used by a controller or processor in conjunction with additional information that reasonably links the information to an identified or identifiable individual. The term does not include deidentified information or publicly available information.
(7) "Verified parent" means the parent or guardian of a known minor whose identity and relationship to the minor have been verified by a digital service provider under Section 509.101.
Status: in_force · Read it on the official government site
Dealing with a business matter in Texas?
See all Texas Business lawyers
About this page: Statute text is reproduced from official government publishers via the
Open US Law dataset
(Vaquill AI, snapshot v2026.08, CC BY 4.0). Primary legislative text like this is public domain under the government-edicts doctrine
(Georgia v. Public.Resource.Org, 2020). We link every section back to its official source so you can verify it independently.