In August, the Insights Association tussled with more state and federal privacy legislation, laws and regulation; considered the implications of COVID-19-related mandates for employers; analyzed pending changes to the pharmaceutical industry’s restrictions on interactions with doctors; and opposed a potential federal tax on companies operating online. We’re also nearing the finish line in our campaign to fix the California law requiring a minimum wage for research subjects.

With an increased eye on ransomware attacks, like the one that shut down gasoline for much of the southeastern U.S. earlier this summer, the federal government recently provided a one-stop-shop for aiding people and companies in preventing “ransomware attacks that can severely impact business processes and leave organizations without the data they need to operate and deliver mission-critical services.”

In July, the Insights Association lamented more new state privacy laws while issuing helpful CCPA compliance information for members; welcomed an important data security protection in Connecticut; endorsed a new nominee to run the Census Bureau; and continued to advance a fix to the 2020 California law requiring a minimum wage for research subjects.

The GOP leadership of the Senate Commerce Committee and House Energy & Commerce Committee recently called upon the Biden Administration “to work with Congress to enact a nationwide consumer data privacy law.”

The Insights Association urged the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee to approve Robert Santos' nomination to lead the U.S. Census Bureau.

State of Play, a program on Black News Channel, recently spoke with the Insights Association to learn more about the importance of the census.

This month, the Insights Association is dealing with new state privacy and data security laws, funding for the census, how insights offices can approach reopening as the pandemic ends, and a variety of other policy concerns, while helping to advance a fix to California A.B. 2257 through the state legislature.

A recent op-ed from the Information Technology & Innovation Foundation makes the case for breaking up the Department of Commerce, calling it “a grab bag of incoherent functions, lacking key domestic industrial policy capabilities.”

The Biden Administration released a belated budget proposal for FY2022, including a 30 percent increase in funding for the Census Bureau.

This month, the Insights Association is dealing with new privacy legislation in more states, addressing more data tax problems, advocating for additional census funding, and making significant progress in efforts to improve California A.B. 2257.