California A.B. 2027, legislation opposed by the Insights Association that would have prohibited the use of personal information provided by any research subjects (if they received an incentive for participation) for purposes of (1) training artificial intelligence (AI) systems or tools or (2) building synthetic data, personas or respondents, has died.
“While we presume Sacramento didn’t intend to hurt our industry, this bill could have crippled development of AI in the insights industry, a potential benefit to productivity, efficiency and decision-making across all sectors (including the public sector) who rely upon our work,” commented Howard Fienberg, Senior VP Advocacy for the Insights Association.
The bill died on May 14, 2026 when it was held under submission in the Assembly Appropriations Committee.
As IA reported to members on March 30 and May 11, the prohibition on AI training would have applied to employers or their partners/vendors using a worker’s personal information for AI training or for replacing the worker’s job. This would have impacted research subjects who receive incentives because the definition of a “worker” in A.B. 2027 includes an independent contractor. In this case, the use of a worker’s data “to replicate, automate, or replace a worker’s job” would have presumably included using a research subject’s data to create synthetic data or synthetic research subjects, and the like. Violations would have been punishable by the state Attorney General, public prosecutors, and private litigation.
Fienberg concluded that, “IA appreciates the California legislature for halting A.B. 2027. We will continue to reach out to the bill sponsor, should he wish to revive the bill next year, about the importance of a simple amendment to carve out research subjects participating in market research.”
About the Author
Based in Washington, DC, Howard is the Insights Association's lobbyist for the marketing research and data analytics industry, focusing primarily on consumer privacy and data security, the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA), tort reform, and the funding and integrity of the decennial Census and the American Community Survey (ACS).
Howard has more than two decades of public policy experience. Before the Insights Association, he worked in Congress as senior legislative staffer for then-Representatives Christopher Cox (CA-48) and Cliff Stearns (FL-06). He also served more than four years with a science policy think tank, working to improve the understanding of scientific and social research and methodology among journalists and policymakers.
Howard is also co-director of The Census Project, a 900+ member coalition in support of a fair and accurate Census and ACS.
He has also served previously on the Board of Directors for the National Institute for Lobbying and Ethics and and the Association of Government Relations Professionals.
Howard has an MA International Relations from the University of Essex in England and a BA Honors Political Studies from Trent University in Canada, and has obtained the Certified Association Executive (CAE), Professional Lobbying Certificate (PLC) and the Public Policy Certificate (PPC).
When not running advocacy for the Insights Association, Howard enjoys hockey, NFL football, sci-fi and horror movies, playing with his dog, and spending time with family and friends.