Postion Papers

The Insights Association takes positions on all manner of public policy issues impacting the insights industry. These position papers can be used by members for their grassroots efforts to influence policymakers.

Preserve Race and Ethnicity Data in the 2030 Census

A proposed Census Bureau rule1 would eliminate the collection of race and ethnicity data in the 2030 Census. It would be the first time (since 1790) that the decennial census has not captured this information. These data are an authoritative, universal benchmark against which nearly every representative U.S. survey, poll, and study conducted is designed, weighted, and validated. No other data source can substitute for the Census Bureau's constitutionally-mandated universal enumeration.

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Funding the 2030 Census and ACS in Fiscal Year 2027

It takes a decade to execute the decennial census, and fiscal year 2027 (FY27) is a critical year in the decade-long ramp-up to the 2030 census. short-changing testing and preparation now could hurt the accuracy of the count while dramatically driving up the cost. Multiple government shutdowns and continuing resolutions, along with insufficient funding in FY12-17, required the Bureau to cancel almost all field testing, particularly in rural and remote areas and on native reservations, leading to big errors. The Insights Association urges $2.11 billion for the Census Bureau in FY27.

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The Census Bureau’s American Community Survey (ACS)

The American Community Survey (ACS) is a rolling survey of 3.5 million households every year, and part of the constitutionally-required decennial census. Data from the ACS underpins all statistically-representative research in the U.S. and provides the benchmark for most every survey. It is also under threat from policymakers seeking to make response voluntary, or kill it outright.

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Non-Compete Agreements in Employment Contracts

The Insights Association opposes the use of non-compete agreements in employment contracts for all but the most senior employees unless the employees receive compensation or severance commensurate with the time frame the employees are restricted, but the use of non-disclosure agreements or non-solicitation agreements should not be impeded.

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Federal Government Competition with the Insights Industry

The Census Household Panel

The Census Bureau requested $1.713 million in FY24 for the Census Household Panel, a program to develop its own online research panel, in-sourced from a failed project formerly known as the Ask U.S. Panel (on which Congressional appropriators demanded more transparency in FY23). That project was recently criticized by the Inspector General. The Census Bureau should instead use the competitive marketplace of available insights services to acquire pre-existing research services as-needed, which would save the Bureau time while saving the taxpayers a lot of money.

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Freedom from Government Competition Act - H.R. 1554

The Freedom from Government Competition Act (H.R. 1554) would require the federal government to procure goods & services from the private sector when commercially available, instead of competing with the private sector. This legislation will significantly reduce taxpayer resources wasted on duplicative (and often failing) enterprises, like the Census Bureau’s Census Household Panel (f.k.a., the Ask U.S. Panel), and focus the federal government on its core necessary responsibilities, while saving at least $27 billion a year in taxpayer dollars.

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The PRO Act Would Unionize Our Research Subjects

The Protecting the Right to Organize Act (PRO Act) (H.R. 20, S. 852) would, among other purposes, dramatically expand the definition of "employee" in the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA), adding an ABC test to determine if someone is an independent contractor or employee for purposes of being organized into a labor union. The legislation would make it harder to properly classify research subjects receiving incentives for participation in market research studies as independent contractors.

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The SECURE Data Act (H.R. 8413): Consumers Deserve Strong Uniform Protections Regardless of Zip Code

The SECURE Data Act (H.R. 8413) is a comprehensive federal consumer data privacy bill based on what’s already working in both Republican and Democrat-run states. The Act would respect, protect and empower U.S. consumers with the same data access, correction, deletion, portability, notice, and opt-out rights, and continue to allow for the informed decision-making provided by market research, insights and analytics services.

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Support H.R. 8413, the SECURE Data Act: Equal Privacy Protections. Less Red Tape.

Across the country and the aisle, states have led on privacy, proving overwhelming, bipartisan consensus is achievable. Congress should build on the common-sense approach to privacy that is most frequently adopted by the states. The time is now to pass a comprehensive federal law that protects consumers, reduces regulatory burdens, cuts compliance costs, and enables businesses to innovate and compete.

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Reforming U.S. Federal Research Policy

The U.S. Office of Management & Budget (OMB) onerous and archaic approach to survey, opinion and market research has not just strangled federal research efforts by trapping them in a pre-Internet mindset; it has wasted taxpayer resources (time and money), hinders federal decision-making, burdens respondents, hurts private-sector research efforts, and severely limits innovation and competition.

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Massachusetts Bill Targeting "Push Polls"

Massachusetts H. 858 would target “push polls” for disclosures and transparency while protecting bona fide research. It is modeled on New Hampshire‘s successful 2014 law that the Insights Association helped to draft and pass.

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COPPA 2.0 (S. 836, H.R. 6291)

The Children and Teens Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA 2.0) would dramatically expand the age-range and scope of COPPA to also cover teenagers aged 13-16, among other provisions. IA has concerns in various versions of the bills on state preemption, the knowledge standard, and parental consent for teens.

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A Framework for Federal Privacy Legislation

IA supports a comprehensive federal consumer data privacy law that will respect and protect consumers (giving them as much control as feasible), facilitate compliance in the private sector, preempt the patchwork of conflicting state laws, centralize enforcement, and continue to allow for the informed decision-making provided by market research, insights and analytics services.

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Should U.S. Federal Privacy Legislation Emulate GDPR?

When it comes to privacy regulation, the U.S. needs to go its own way, instead of replicating the European Union (EU) General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). Bad choices in crafting a federal privacy law could drive up costs for insights services -- costs which would be passed on to consumers

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Federal Privacy Legislation: Enforcement and State Preemption

Consumers and businesses need regulatory certainty and consistency in privacy protection, and should not have to contest with a confusing, conflicting patchwork of state privacy laws. they also need a federal privacy law enforced by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and state Attorneys General (AGs), rather than private litigation.

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Fixing the Protecting Americans’ Data from Foreign Adversaries Act

The Protecting Americans’ Data from Foreign Adversaries Act (PADFA) prohibits some companies from disclosing, sharing or selling some common market research data with the People’s Republic of China, Russia, North Korea, and Iran, or any company based in, or under minimal control by, them. Unfortunately, compliance with the new law will be difficult (if not impossible) for most affected companies.

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