Articles

As the Congressional appropriations process slowly moves forward for Fiscal Year 2023 (FY23), the Insights Association is supporting a significant increase in funding for the decennial census and the American Community Survey (ACS). Quality data from these constitutionally-mandated programs are essential to the function of the insights industry.

The leading nonprofit trade association for the insights industry delivered testimony today at the House Appropriations Committee about the U.S. Census Bureau’s “Ask U.S. Panel” project and the legislative solutions the association has sought to bring transparency to the wasteful project.

The Insights Association (IA) continues to raise concerns about the Census Bureau's Ask U.S. Panel project, which would subsidize a private entity to develop a probability-based online research panel instead of purchasing the service from existing providers that already offer the service on the open market.

Since our last Fighting for You, the Insights Association has been charging full-steam into debates over consumer privacy and data security at the state, federal and trans-national levels; opposing a new project at the Census Bureau that would compete directly against the insights industry; scrutinizing Congressional legislation and possible Securities and Exchange Commission regulation that could treat research subjects like employees, instead of independent contractors; and advocating against ...

In a March 25, 2022 joint statement, the United States and the European Commission claimed that the two sides had "agreed in principle on a new Trans-Atlantic Data Privacy Framework" to replace the U.S.-EU Privacy Shield, which was struck down by the European Court of Justice in the Schrems II case in July 2020.

President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address briefly touched upon consumer data privacy issues and even brief mentions of a given policy concern raise interest in DC.

Research Business Daily Report (RBDR) explored the growing controversy over the Census Bureau’s attempt to launch their own probability-based online panel to compete with the insights industry, and spoke with the Insights Association to learn more.

The Insights Association contended that a Census Bureau plan "to develop a probability-based research panel would be duplicative, at best; numerous private sector insights companies and organizations already provide well-established high-quality probability-based panels. The Bureau’s plan is also anti-competitive, given these existing panels and the Bureau’s intent to fund an additional insights firm to build one."

Robert Santos was sworn in as the new director of the Census Bureau on January 5, 2022, taking charge at an important time of transition.

In response to a recent Federal Trade Commission (FTC) workshop, the Insights Association (IA) urged the agency to curtail “the use of noncompete 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 to also avoid impeding “the use of nondisclosure agreements or non-solicitation agreements.”