The insights industry faced comprehensive consumer data privacy legislation across the U.S. this year, with two such bills ending up in law and comprehensive privacy legislation defeated or deferred in 25 other states.
As usual, we’ve had some wins in California as legislators have tried (and in some cases succeeded) to amend the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) and California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA) in 2021. Bills we opposed were amended or defeated. Let’s survey the new laws and what went down to defeat, at least for now.
California A.B. 1561, legislation fixing the state’s 2020 law requiring prorated hourly minimum wages for California research subjects who receive incentives, is now law. Governor Gavin Newsom signed the bill, with language proposed and endorsed by the Insights Association, on October 2, 2021.
Missouri Governor Mike Parson (R) signed S.B. 51 into law on July 7, 2021, limiting liability for COVID-19-related exposure except in cases of recklessness or intentional misconduct. The Insights Association endorsed the legislation back in February.
Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont (D) signed H.B. 6607 into law on July 7, 2021. The IA-supported law prohibits punitive damages in data breach tort litigation if a breached company abides by the right data security standards, like ISO 27001.
The U.S. Supreme Court has clarified the definition of an autodialer in the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA). The case, in which the Insights Association had joined an amicus brief, potentially clears up decades of convoluted and conflicting rules and decisions from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and various courts that have tied legitimate actors in knots and fueled a deluge of class action litigation.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (R) signed S.B. 72 into law as Chapter No. 2021-1 on March 29, 2021, providing limited liability protections for COVID-19-related claims against companies and organizations making good faith effort to comply with applicable public health guidance and government requirements. The IA-endorsed law passed the state senate 24-15 on March 18, and the state house 83-31 on March 26.
Congress has approved the PPP Extension Act of 2021 (H.R.1799), a bill supported by the Insights Association that extends the life of the refundable loan program that has helped many small businesses in the insights industry and their staff persevere despite the COVID-19 crisis.
Utah Governor Spencer Cox (R) signed the Cybersecurity Affirmative Defense Act (H.B. 80) into law on March 11, 2021, providing an affirmative defense against data security breach litigation if a breached company abides by the right data security standards, like ISO 27001. The Insights Association had endorsed the Act.
California Governor Gavin Newsom signed S.B. 87 into law on February 23, 2021, appropriating money to support the new California Small Business COVID-19 Relief Grant Program. IA endorsed and supported S.B. 87.
The Pennsylvania Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Prohibited Gifts Act (H.B. 593) includes an amendment recommended by the Insights Association that would protect bona fide marketing research with health care professionals.
Along the lines of the legislation we had advocated last year to give the Census Bureau more time, the Bureau announced recently that it would not be able to report 2020 Census state-level results for purposes of apportionment until approximately April 30. The more useful data release – detailed redistricting data – won’t be ready until the end of September.
The omnibus package of coronavirus relief and Fiscal Year 2021 (FY21) appropriations includes important wins for the insights industry: (1) funding for the census; (2) the extension and expansion of forgivable loans for small businesses; and (3) the extension of the payroll retention tax credit.
Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer (D) signed four bills into law on October 22, 2020 -- H.B. 6030, H.B. 6031, H.B. 6032, H.B. 6101 -- to limit unwarranted COVID-19 exposure-related lawsuits against businesses and protect workers against workplace infection. The Insights Association supported the bills, which were locked together as a legislative package.
California Governor Gavin Newsom (D) signed A.B. 1281 into law, extending the sunset date on critical exemptions for employment and business-to-business data from the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), as urged by the Insights Association.
The City Council for Washington, DC voted on July 28, 2020 to reject the proposed three percent tax on the sale of data, as requested by the Insights Association and our allies.
A new law in Louisiana, backed by the Insights Association, provides people and businesses in the state basic protection from liability for exposure to COVID-19 during the “public health emergency” if following “applicable government standards and guidance.”
In finalizing Maine’s ban on pharmaceutical manufacturer gifts to health care practitioners, the Maine Board of Pharmacy responded to the Insights Association that it should not restrict respondent incentives for participation in bona fide marketing research.
President Trump signed the Paycheck Protection Program Flexibility Act (H.R. 7010), legislation advocated by the Insights Association, into law on June 5, 2020. It improves the ability of small businesses to utilize the Small Business Administration (SBA)'s Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans to offset the impact of the COVID-19 crisis.
Legislation opposed by the Insights Association that would have prohibited most marketing research calls to Californians (at their residential, business or cell phone lines) has been defeated in the state legislature.
The Texas Supreme Court rejected a lower court’s order against a law firm for a supposed “push poll” in what the Insights Association called “a crucial victory for the right of litigants to use bona fide marketing research in court trials.”
President Donald Trump signed the Paycheck Protection Program and Health Care Enhancement Act (H.R. 226) into law on April 25, 2020, providing $484 billion in financial assistance and funding for various programs in response to the COVID-19 crisis, including the small business loan programs launched and expanded by the March 27th CARES Act.
Despite the Evergreen State legislature's efforts, complicated consumer privacy legislation, minors privacy provisions, and data broker restrictions all faltered, dying at the end of Washington's legislative session.
The President signed H.R. 5430 into law on January 29, 2020, implementing the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA). The new trade deal replaces the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and includes protections for cross-border digital trade of benefit to the insights industry.
With the decennial headcount just about to start, Congress finally delivered full funding to the Census Bureau for Fiscal Year 2020. "The Insights Association has lobbied hard to get us to this point because the marketing research and data analytics industry can't conduct representative research studies without the most accurate census data as a statistical benchmark."
The latest Continuing Resolution funding the federal government contains increased funding for the 2020 Census, improving the odds of decennial preparations getting completed and setting the stage for the completion of full-year funding before the end of the year.
Governor Gavin Newsom vetoed the Protect Call Center Jobs Act of 2019 (A.B. 1677), which would have penalized California companies that move their call centers out of the country or out of the state.
The Insights Association helped Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Tennessee approve changes this year harmonizing their treatment of independent contractors, including respondents who receive incentives for their participation in research studies.
With the convoluted California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) coming into effect on January 1, 2020, the California legislature approved a handful of changes to the law last week advocated by the Insights Association before adjourning for the year and sent them to the Governor’s office.
Oregon S.B. 472 died in committee with the conclusion of Oregon's legislative session at the end of June. This legislation would have prohibited the purchase or sale of a list of telephone numbers to be used for unsolicited calls, including calls for research.
The U.S. Supreme Court rejected the Department of Commerce's attempt to add a citizenship question to the decennial questionnaire in a 5-4 decision this morning. The Insights Association had joined an amicus brief at the Supreme Court in opposition to the citizenship question's addition in this controversial case, with 24 other companies and business groups. Research indicated that it would reduce response rates.
Congress sent President Trump legislation yesterday including $3.82 billion for all Census Bureau operations in Fiscal Year 2019, a billion dollar increase over FY18, as requested by the Insights Association. The President is expected to sign the bill today.
Legislation in the city of Philadelphia that would have cut off pharmaceutical marketing research with doctors was defeated in the city council.
Insights Association advocacy helps secure $1.344 billion increase for the Census Bureau and 2020 Census preparations
The Office of Management and Budget recently assured the Insights Association that any government reorganization of statistical agencies involving the Census Bureau will not occur until after the 2020 Census, as we had requested.
Full analysis of the DC Circuit Court decision that rejected much of the FCC's 2015 TCPA regulations and accepted a lot of the Insights Association's arguments in the case, in which we were intervenors.
The Insights Association helps prevent Texas from taxing sales of marketing research services.
The big budget deal (after a momentary government shutdown) includes a much-needed boost in funding to prepare for the 2020 Census, as sought by the Insights Association.
The Insights Association convinced iconectiv, the new administrator of the database, to come up with better terminology for companies who need to access the wireless do not call registry, instead of just calling everyone (including marketing researchers) "telemarketers."
New regulations in New Jersey restricting interactions between medical professionals and pharmaceutical manufacturers should not impede marketing research, thanks to the advocacy of the Insights Association
The sponsor of S.B. 790, a bill that would otherwise ban respondent incentives for California doctors participating in most pharmaceutical marketing research, has agreed to the Insights Association's amendment that would exempt bona fide research.
The major party presidential campaign platforms for 2016 reflect some of the concerns of the survey, opinion and marketing research profession.
National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA)'s industry best practices for protecting consumer privacy in facial recognition technology will advance privacy safeguards while also carving out most research and analytics uses of the technology.
Legislators in Maine recently fixed a misguided bill targeting "push polls" that could have irreparably biased the results of political polling in the state, heeding testimony from MRA.
Legislation that would have restricted telephone survey research by or for a Missouri state government agency has been defeated by a coalition organized by MRA.
MRA and AAPC helped to draft and pass legislation fixing a New Hampshire law that had curtailed bona fide polling in the Granite State.
MRA and our coalition allies convinced a House Committee not to bring up legislation that would hurt the American Community Survey (ACS) by making response voluntary.
Thanks to help from MRA volunteer Vera Cooley, the Washington State House Committee on Finance amended legislation before passage, preventing a detrimental impact on the use of respondent incentives in survey, opinion and marketing research. The bill would have created the presumption that anyone receiving payment for services is an employee.
In finalizing the Compete, Inc. settlement, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) appears to have accepted points made by MRA and rejected activist proposals to turn the order into a bad precedent against the research profession.
Merrimack County Superior Court dismisses a case of purported violation of New Hampshire's "push poll" law after accepting an MRA-AAPC amicus brief.
The final Sunshine Act rules explicitly carved out marketing research incentives for physician respondents. CASRO filed comments and MRA lobbied via contacts in Congress. The result caps a 5-year MRA campaign.
Rep. Mike Kelly (R-PA-03) introduces The Research Fairness Act (H.R. 5915) to clarify in federal labor law that research respondents receiving incentives are not employees. A joint MRA effort with the Mystery Shopping Providers Association (MSPA).
The Federal Election Commission (FEC) approves an MRA-supported advisory opinion declaring that federal election law preempts aspects of New Hampshire's "push poll" law.
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) makes TCPA autodialer-cellphone restrictions tougher for telemarketers, but shields survey, opinion and marketing research at MRA’s request.
MRA's cooperative lobbying efforts with the American Association of Political Consultants (AAPC) bore fruit, helping to kill a bill that would have inserted bias into political research calls and another that would have forbidden automated telephone research calls.
Amendments promoted by MRA, and accepted by the House Commerce Subcommittee, set the standard that the FTC should not be given unfettered authority to expand the definition of "personal information" in data security legislation. That same standard was later adopted by the Senate Commerce Committee in their data security legislation, as requested by MRA.
MRA convinced a House Republican to withdraw his amendment which would have reduced Census Bureau funding.
Maine's Governor signed a bill into law repealing Maine's pharmaceutical reporting law, whose implementing regulations had prevented most pharmaceutical marketing research with Maine physicians. MRA had testified in favor of repeal.
MRA convinced a state legislator to exempt respondent incentives for marketing research from his legislation, which would have banned most payments from pharmaceutical and medical device manufacturers to health care professionals.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) agreed with MRA on the need to keep respondent data and possible proprietary and trade secret information on research processes confidential, as part of a government investigation of a tobacco company.
MRA helped to remove provisions from the Dodd Frank financial regulation law that would have dramatically expanded the power and authority of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and facilitated increased Federal regulation of the marketing research profession.
The Governor of Minnesota today signed a bill into law that legalizes exit polling at Minnesota voting places. MRA testified in support of the law in the state legislature.
Thanks to lobbying by MRA, with help from PMRG, and targeted outreach by MRA grassroots volunteers, the Physician Payments Sunshine Act (part of the Affordable Care Act, AKA "Obamacare") excludes incentive payments for doctors who participate in pharmaceutical and medical device marketing research studies. (This victory would be cemented in the final implementing Sunshine Act regulations in 2013).
A joint MRA-CASRO-PMRG effort yields a clarification in regulations that research companies can legally conduct market research with Minnesota health care practitioners.
Maine voted to recommend the prompt repeal of a law prohibiting the transfer of personal information regarding minors (under 18). MRA had filed our comments in opposition to the law, and looks forward to working with state legislators to craft a new, more carefully crafted law, which will not impede survey and opinion research.
MRA develops an ideal legal definition of research after a public consultation process. This definition would eventually be adopted in the Research Fairness Act (2012) and New Hampshire's "push poll" fix law (2014)..
Official guidance from the Massachusetts Department of Health uses MRA-provided language to exempt market research incentives from the application of the state’s new Marketing Code of Conduct for pharmaceutical and medical device manufacturers.
MRA recently helped to convince legislators in Maryland and Rhode Island to withdraw their bills and helped to defeat legislation in Mississippi, victories in the ongoing fight against legislation to require public reporting of survey research incentives for health care practitioners or that ban them outright.
The New Mexico State Senate recently defeated a bill which would have required the public reporting of incentives paid to health care professionals for participation in marketing research studies sponsored by pharmaceutical, medical device or medical supply manufacturers. After MRA reached out to legislators, the legislation was defeated.
MRA applauded the U.S. Congress for including $1 billion in immediate funding for the decennial Census in the just-approved economic stimulus law. MRA had advocated throughout the process, in Congress and through grassroots outreach. An amendment to axe the Census funds was subsequently defeated during Senate floor debate.
Legislation drafted by CMOR to combat political persuasion calls ("push polls") while protecting legitimate survey and opinion research (including message testing) was signed into law by the Governor. Collaboration with grassroots volunteer Jude Olinger was critical, both to kill the original bill that woud have severely harmed political survey and opinion research with residents of Louisiana, and then to get the sponsor of that bill to instead promote legislation authored by CMOR.
The Insights Association protects and creates demand for the evolving Insights and Analytics industry by promoting the indisputable role of insights in driving business impact. All revenue is invested in quality standards, legal and business advocacy, education, certification and direct support to enable our members to thrive.
The 2019 IA Code of Standards and Ethics for Marketing Research and Data Analytics may be found here.
Our members are the world's leading producers of intelligence, analytics and insights defining the needs, attitudes and behaviors of consumers, organizations and their employees, students and citizens. With that essential understanding, leaders can make intelligent decisions and deploy strategies and tactics to build trust, inspire innovation, realize the full potential of individuals and teams, and successfully create and promote products, services and ideas.
