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Not every October surprise has to be frightening. This month, the Insights Association helped deliver several significant wins for the insights industry in California, while keeping watch over a new crop of privacy, AI, accessibility and Census challenges across the country. IA also rolled out an updated Code of Standards and Ethics and continued to promote and protect the integrity of the market research, insights and data analytics profession.

The governor vetoed California A.B. 1542, a bill opposed by the Insights Association that would have prohibited most companies from selling sensitive personal information to a third party. States are cracking down on data sharing, but the governor worried about “unintended consequences if consumers are removed entirely from the decision process."

Insights Association advocacy helped protect the conduct of market research, insights and analytics in three California privacy and AI bills, curtailing the impact on relations with research subjects before the bills became law.

California Governor Gavin Newsom (D) signed an Insights Association-endorsed bill into law on September 30, 2026, finally cracking down on abusive litigation that has plagued some insights firms.

As summer gives way to fall, U.S. policymakers are giving the insights industry plenty to keep an eye on. This month, the Insights Association backed a new California law clarifying the legality of alcohol taste-testing research, pushed back against proposed changes to the 2030 Census and delays in critical census data, supported legislation to curb abusive privacy lawsuits, and tracked a fresh wave of state privacy and artificial intelligence proposals affecting insights businesses across the c...

A new law in the Golden State, supported by the Insights Association, specifically authorizes alcohol taste testing market research, following years of unofficial guidance and vague legal status.

July may be peak vacation season, but policymakers gave the insights industry little opportunity to relax. The Insights Association tracked and engaged on consequential developments involving privacy and data security, artificial intelligence and HR law, from the defeat of problematic California data-localization legislation to a damaging new data law in New Jersey, federal restrictions affecting children’s data, emerging chatbot requirements and new rules governing non-compete agreements.

Summer is here, but the insights industry can’t afford a vacation from legislative and regulatory advocacy for our interests. In June, the Insights Association secured significant victories on AI policy, helping defeat legislation in California and Minnesota that would have imposed substantial new restrictions on the use of research data, synthetic data, and AI-enabled insights tools, while engaging with other AI and privacy issues in California, Massachusetts and Congress.

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.

In May, the Insights Association advanced advocacy on federal privacy legislation, pushed back against restrictive state and federal AI proposals, defended the future of the census, and rallied support for landmark California taste testing research legislation, all while helping members navigate an increasingly complex compliance landscape.