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June brought lots of sizzling policy developments for the insights industry -- some promising, others challenging. Thankfully, the Insights Association was right in the thick of it. Let’s look at some wins on privacy issues and political polling, a troubling GDPR case in Europe, lots of new guidance on privacy, AI, HR, and email laws, developments on indirect costs in federally-funded research, and more.

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.

A coalition of lawful callers, including the insights industry, requested that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) “exercise care to avoid preventing the transmission of legal calls in its effort to deter illegal robocalls” and “not create the same problem that it is trying to fight.”

Temperatures may be cooling as the calendar turns to autumn, but legislative issues are heating up as lawmakers get back to work following summer breaks. Here are some of the key issues we're engaged with at the national and state level on your behalf...

Survey, opinion and marketing research companies that conduct alcohol taste tasting research should be aware that many states oblige companies to obtain a permit or license to serve alcoholic beverages, even for complimentary purposes. State regulatory agencies may also require registration prior to conducting taste testing studies.