At a glance
- Breach notice to residents
- 60 days at most
- State regulator notice
- Attorney General
- State consumer privacy law
- Texas Data Privacy and Security Act
- Dealer bond
- $50,000
On this page
Federal rules every dealer follows
These apply in every state. Each links to a free tool or guide.
- FTC Safeguards Rule (16 CFR Part 314): a written security plan, a Qualified Individual, a risk assessment, MFA, encryption and the FTC breach notice. Safeguards checklist.
- Red Flags Rule (16 CFR 681): a written identity theft program; most dealers who arrange financing treat themselves as covered. Red Flags program.
- Privacy notice (Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act): give it to buyers who finance or lease. GLBA privacy notice.
- OFAC: never sell to someone on the Treasury's sanctions lists; keep records 10 years. Free OFAC search.
- Form 8300: report cash over $10,000 within 15 days. Form 8300 worksheet.
- Credit notices: adverse action within 30 days, and risk-based pricing notices. Adverse action notice.
- Used Car Rule: the Buyers Guide on every used car for sale. Buyers Guide.
- Advertised prices: include doc fees and other required fees, per the FTC's September 2026 FAQs. Ad and price check.
Texas's data breach notice law
Texas's breach notice law is Tex. Bus. & Com. Code § 521.053. If personal information of Texas residents is breached, it says to notify them without unreasonable delay and in each case not later than the 60th day after the date on which the person determines that the breach occurred.
Who else to tell: the Attorney General. If the breach involves at least 250 Texas residents; as soon as practicable and not later than the 30th day after determining the breach occurred, using the AG's online form.
The law reads: "The disclosure shall be made without unreasonable delay and in each case not later than the 60th day after the date on which the person determines that the breach occurred"
This is on top of the federal rule. Under the FTC Safeguards Rule, a dealer must tell the FTC within 30 days of discovering a breach of unencrypted information about 500 or more consumers. How the FTC notice works.
Texas's consumer privacy law
Yes. The Texas Data Privacy and Security Act (Tex. Bus. & Com. Code ch. 541) has applied since July 1, 2024.
Who it covers: Persons that conduct business in Texas or produce a product or service consumed by Texas residents, process or sell personal data, and are not a small business as defined by the U.S. Small Business Administration (the sensitive-data sale consent rule in § 541.107 applies to small businesses too); no consumer-count threshold.
The law exempts both financial institutions subject to the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act and the data that act covers. A dealer that arranges financing or leases is generally treated as one, so ask your attorney whether that covers your store. (Tex. Bus. & Com. Code § 541.002(b))
The law reads: "is not a small business as defined by the United States Small Business Administration, except to the extent that Section 541.107 applies to a person described by this subdivision"
Whether your store is covered depends on your own numbers, so check them each year, and keep giving financing buyers the federal privacy notice. Make a free GLBA privacy notice.
Texas dealer license and bond
A Texas retail dealer license calls for a $50,000 surety bond. Everything about the Texas dealer license: who needs one, the lot rules and the application.
Texas dealer compliance checklist
Write and sign your security plan
Name your Qualified Individual, do the risk assessment and turn on MFA for every system with customer data.
Adopt a Red Flags program
Check the buyer's ID on every deal and log what you checked.
Give the privacy notice
To every buyer who finances or leases, at or before signing.
Check every buyer against the OFAC lists
Keep the dated result in the deal jacket for 10 years.
Track cash
Add up related cash payments and file Form 8300 when they pass $10,000.
Train your staff on security
The Safeguards Rule asks for security awareness training for everyone who handles customer data. Keep a record of who finished it.
Put Texas's breach deadline in your incident plan
60 days for residents, plus the Attorney General, and the FTC within 30 days at 500 or more consumers.
Check your ads
Advertised prices include doc fees and every fee all buyers pay.
Rules checked and limits
Rules checked October 31, 2026. We read every rule on this page in the eCFR or on the agency's own site, and each is linked in the sources below. We re-check them every quarter.
Texas laws checked October 31, 2026 on the official sources linked below.
Templates and tools, not legal advice. CarShots is software, not a law firm. For a question about your own dealership, ask your attorney or your state dealer association.