Articles

The insights industry faced more than just April showers, as the first full month of spring brought tempestuous issues, such as whether recent federal government action against DEI and sex/gender identity means we can no longer ask demographic questions, and determining the current impact of DOGE on the industry. We weighed in with Congress on consumer data privacy legislation, looked at a new privacy law change in Utah and the status of some AI legislation in California, urged more funding for ...

February may be a shorter month on the calendar, but there was no shortage of advocacy work for the insights industry with new Trump Administration leadership, federal privacy legislation, more taxes in New Jersey and Washington state, disappearing census data, a new legislative threat to the ACS, AI regulation in Virginia and New York, federal reporting requirements for small businesses, and more.

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).

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.

The first full month of spring brought with it a shiny new federal privacy bill, some developments on AI regulation, a tax win in Nebraska, a new federal ban on noncompetes, advances in preventing the government from competing with the insights industry, legislation moving in Minnesota on exit polling and political opinion research, complicated business payment disputes, and some new developments on competitive sourcing of insights services and the Census Household Panel.

The leading trade association for the insights industry told Congress on April 14, 2023 that the Census Household Panel, a program the Census Bureau aims to insource from its failed contract to develop an online research panel, is a waste of taxpayer money.

A federal watchdog has criticized the Ask U.S. Panel project, concluding an investigation of the Census Bureau’s attempt to develop an online research panel to compete with the insights industry.

An omnibus Fiscal Year 2023 (FY23) appropriations bill was introduced early on December 20, 2022, including language demanding transparency on the Census Bureau's Ask U.S. Panel project, as requested by the leading nonprofit association for the insights industry. (It became law shortly thereafter)

As Congress nears completion of an omnibus bill to fund the federal government for Fiscal Year 2023 (FY23), the Insights Association is reminding Appropriations Committee leaders of the need for transparency on the Census Bureau's Ask U.S. Panel project.

The Senate Appropriations Committee will require a detailed report from the U.S. Census Bureau about the Ask U.S. Panel, which the Insights Association has warned "could waste millions of taxpayer dollars in a vain attempt to compete with existing online research panel providers, instead of simply purchasing those services on the open market for a fraction of the cost.”