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Amidst all the advocacy wildfires for the insights industry, the Insights Association found significant wins on federal tax reporting thresholds, and support for professional insights education. Other legal, regulatory and legislative developments in July included heightened enforcement of data privacy and security rules, evolving policies on artificial intelligence, developments in health care, new state laws on non-compete agreements, challenges to the classification of research subjects as in...

Legislative and regulatory issues facing the insights industry are blooming all over, including: a new FTC commissioner; proposed reform of the federal government research process; U.S. House-passed legislation to empower insights professionals with more training, while also prohibiting state AI regulation; state sales taxes advancing for insights-related services; a proposed ban on polling by public universities; new compliance guidance for the federal ban on sensitive data transfers to certain...

Noting that the U.S. government’s current approach “to survey, opinion and market research, unchanged since 2006, wastes taxpayer resources and hurts the private sector,” the leading nonprofit trade association for the insights industry called for the urgent modernization of federal research policy.

March blew in like a lion for the insights industry, but it shows no signs of leaving like a lamb, as the Insights Association grappled with lots of advocacy issues, including: complicated new prohibitions on data sharing with certain foreign countries (and companies controlled by them); a new FTC nominee; worrisome tax bills in Maryland; a California bill to restrict artificial intelligence in interactions with research subjects; a new U.S. Labor Secretary potentially hostile to treating resear...

The U.S. Senate approved the nomination of former Congresswoman Lori Chavez-DeRemer on March 10, 2025 to be Secretary of the Department of Labor, potentially complicating the insights industry’s ability to provide incentives to research subjects who participate in market research studies.

The Insights Association, the leading nonprofit organization representing the market research and analytics industry, issued a statement welcoming the U.S. Senate confirmation of Russ Vought to be director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB).

The insights industry began the first month of 2025 with an eye on a comprehensive federal privacy law, the potential organizing of research subjects into labor unions, legal guidance on artificial intelligence in Oregon, and how insights firms should respond to legal subpoenas for research-related information.

A new policy statement from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) encourages organizing of independent contractors into labor unions, just like employees, and would include research subjects who receive any form of incentive for participating in market research studies.

While northerly climes were frosting over at the tail end of 2024, the Insights Association took a sharp look at the prior year in tax policy, privacy and artificial intelligence, while scoping out President Trump’s new Administration. We also covered an array of privacy, data security, telephone and other legislation and regulatory moves impacting the insights industry in December.

Despite all the political turmoil in the U.S., the Insights Association remained focused on advocacy on our bread-and-butter policy issues in July, including heated fights over census funding, delays in federal noncompete rules, proposed portable benefits for independent contractors (that could include research subjects), more AI legislation, and a win on some IA-supported legislation in Congress.