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Public commenter warns commissioners about 'surveillance' role of large data centers
Summary
Dr. Maddox told the court she considers some large data centers to be 'surveillance data centers' that could combine biometric, financial and camera data; she urged transparency and said Governor Greg Abbott has asked the Public Utility Commission and ERCOT to review authorities related to data centers.
Dr. Maddox, introduced by the chair for public comment, urged commissioners to scrutinize the local impact of large data centers and raised privacy and surveillance concerns. "These are surveillance data centers," she said, arguing that operators could combine "your work history, your search histories, your financial histories, your biometric data, your activity data" to do predictive behavior and flag people they consider potential problems.
Maddox referenced a recent letter from Governor Greg Abbott asking the Public Utility Commission and ERCOT to review data‑center interconnection policies and suggested that electricity‑rate claims tied to data‑center interconnection would not solve the privacy issue. She also requested transparency about a large Katy project she described as a $400–$500 million development; the transcript records her urging commissioners to "look into that" but does not record any county response or formal action on the matter.
