Your privacy choices

The law behind this

The Texas Data Privacy and Security Act, passed as House Bill 4 and codified at chapter 541 of the Texas Business and Commerce Code, took effect on July 1, 2024. It gives Texas residents rights over personal data held by businesses that operate in Texas or offer products and services to Texans. The Texas Attorney General enforces it exclusively; there is no private lawsuit under it.

Your rights

• Confirm and access. Ask whether we process your personal data and get a copy.
• Correct. Fix inaccuracies, taking into account the nature of the data.
• Delete. Ask us to delete personal data you gave us or that we obtained about you.
• Portability. Get a copy in a portable, readily usable format where technically feasible.
• Opt out. Of targeted advertising, of the sale of personal data, and of profiling that produces legal or similarly significant effects. We do not do any of these three, so there is nothing to opt out of, but the right exists and we will honor a request.
• Universal opt-out signals. We honor Global Privacy Control and comparable browser signals.

Sensitive data

Texas law treats health information as sensitive personal data and requires consent before processing it. Your intake describes a mental health condition, so submitting the form is how you give that consent, and you can withdraw it.

We do not sell sensitive personal data. If we ever did, Texas law would require us to post the exact words “NOTICE: We may sell your sensitive personal data.” on this page. Those words do not appear here, and we do not intend that they ever should.

This page vs. HIPAA

An important distinction most privacy pages blur. Protected health information handled by a therapist is governed by HIPAA and by Texas medical records law, not by the Texas Data Privacy and Security Act, which exempts information already covered by HIPAA. So:

• Your clinical record and the letter are governed by our notice of privacy practices, and your rights over them are the HIPAA rights described there.
• Website data, marketing emails and pre-clinical intake information are governed by this page and the privacy policy.

You do not need to work out which bucket applies. Send us the request and we will route it and tell you which framework we handled it under.

Making a request

Email contact@texasemotionalsupportanimalletter.org with the subject line “Privacy request,” or call contact@texasemotionalsupportanimalletter.org. Tell us what you want and give us enough detail to find you. We will verify your identity before acting, because handing your data to someone who is not you would be the worse failure.

• We respond within 45 days, extendable once by a further 45 days where reasonably necessary, and we will tell you if we extend.
• Free for the first two requests in a 12-month period.
• An authorized agent may act for you with proof of authority.

If we refuse: appeal

If we decline a request, we will tell you why, and Texas law gives you a right to appeal. Reply to our decision with the words “Privacy appeal” within [30] days. A different person than the one who made the original decision will review it, and we will respond in writing within 60 days with our conclusion and the reasons.

If the appeal is denied, we will give you a way to submit a complaint to the Office of the Texas Attorney General, which enforces the Act.