Sec. 2001.002.  DEFINITIONS.  In this chapter:
(1)  "Account" means an arrangement under a terms-of-service agreement in which a custodian carries, maintains, processes, receives, or stores a digital asset of the user or provides goods or services to the user.
(2)  "Agent" means an attorney in fact granted authority to act for a principal under a durable or other power of attorney.  The term does not include an agent under a medical power of attorney.
(3)  "Carries" means to engage in the transmission of an electronic communication.
(4)  "Catalog of electronic communications" means information that identifies each person with whom a user has had an electronic communication, the time and date of the communication, and the electronic address of the person.
(5)  "Content of an electronic communication" means information concerning the substance or meaning of an electronic communication that:
(A)  has been sent, uploaded, received, or downloaded by a user;
(B)  is in electronic storage by a custodian providing an electronic communication service to the public or is carried or maintained by a custodian providing a remote computing service to the public; and
(C)  is not readily accessible to the public.
(6)  "Custodian" means a person that carries, maintains, processes, receives, or stores a digital asset of a user.
(7)  "Designated recipient" means a person chosen by a user using an online tool to administer digital assets of the user.
(8)  "Digital asset" means an electronic record in which an individual has a right or interest.  The term does not include an underlying asset or liability unless the asset or liability is itself an electronic record.
(9)  "Electronic" means relating to technology having electrical, digital, magnetic, wireless, optical, electromagnetic, or similar capabilities.
(10)  "Electronic communication" has the meaning assigned by 18 U.S.C. Section 2510(12), as it existed on January 1, 2017.
(11)  "Electronic communication service" means a custodian that provides to a user the ability to send or receive an electronic communication.
(12)  "Fiduciary" means an original, additional, or successor personal representative, guardian, agent, or trustee.
(13)  "Guardian" has the meaning assigned by Section 1002.012, except that the term does not include a guardian of the person of a ward.
(14)  "Information" means data, text, images, videos, sounds, codes, computer programs, software, databases, or the like.
(15)  "Online tool" means an electronic service provided by a custodian that allows the user, in an agreement distinct from the terms-of-service agreement between the custodian and user, to provide directions for disclosure or nondisclosure of digital assets to a third person.
(16)  "Person" has the meaning assigned by Section 311.005, Government Code.
(17)  "Personal representative," notwithstanding Section 22.031, means:
(A)  an executor or independent executor;
(B)  an administrator, independent administrator, or temporary administrator;
(C)  a successor to an executor or administrator listed in Paragraph (A) or (B); or
(D)  a person who performs functions substantially similar to those performed by the persons listed in Paragraph (A), (B), or (C) under the laws of this state, other than this chapter.
(18)  "Power of attorney" means a record that grants an agent authority to act in the place of a principal with regard to property matters, including a durable power of attorney as provided by Subtitle P, Title 2.  The term does not include a medical power of attorney.
(19)  "Principal" means an individual who grants authority to an agent in a power of attorney.
(20)  "Record" means information that is inscribed on a tangible medium or that is stored in an electronic or other medium and is retrievable in perceivable form.
(21)  "Remote computing service" means a custodian that provides to a user computer processing services or the storage of digital assets by means of an electronic communications system, as defined by 18 U.S.C. Section 2510(14), as it existed on January 1, 2017.
(22)  "Terms-of-service agreement" means an agreement that controls the relationship between a user and a custodian.
(23)  "Trustee" has the meaning assigned by Section 111.004, Property Code.
(24)  "User" means a person who has an account with a custodian.
Added by Acts 2017, 85th Leg., R.S., Ch. 400 (S.B. 1193), Sec. 1, eff. September 1, 2017.