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Senate committee advances bill to protect airport consumer data collected by municipal entities
Summary
Senate Bill 18 41 would exempt airport customer data — including flight dates, transactions and trusted‑traveler enrollments — collected by municipal airports and their apps from public‑information disclosure.
Senate Bill 18 41, authored by Senator John Johnson, would expand protections for consumer information collected by municipal airports and related airport websites or mobile applications.
What the bill does: Senator Johnson said the measure would exempt personally identifying travel‑related data collected in municipal airport transactions from public‑information disclosure under the Texas Public Information Act, preserving its use for legitimate government purposes but preventing public release of itinerary details, transaction history, lounge memberships and trusted‑traveler status.
Support and rationale: Tim Jonek, chairman of the Texas Commercial Airports Association and director of government relations for the Houston Airport System, told the committee the association — representing 16 airports that handle 98% of Texas air passengers — strongly supports SB 18 41. He said current protections cover some fields (mailing address, email, financial info) but do not protect travel dates, flight information, transactions, lounge memberships or TSA‑pre/Global Entry status. Jonek said the bill would protect passenger privacy, bolster public trust and align policy with evolving airport digital services.
Why it matters: Airports collect profiles and transaction details through apps and web portals that passengers use to buy services and manage travel. Supporters said unrestricted public disclosure would expose sensitive personal travel plans and could create security and privacy risks.
Outcome: The committee heard testimony from airports and stakeholders and later reported the bill favorably; the committee moved SB 18 41 forward with no recorded opposition in committee.
Ending: Proponents framed the bill as a practical privacy update for modern airport operations; the Texas Commercial Airports Association asked the committee to support the bill to protect travelers and airport operations.
