Original broadcast date: March 21, 2019 via IAPP Webconference

Updated April 16, 2019 to add Arizona, Connecticut, Nevada, and Texas.

We have entered a new privacy paradigm, where the only certainty is uncertainty. That is in part because of the wide range of regulations passed and pending around the world – and even within the United States. Here, we bring some order to the chaos by analyzing passed and pending privacy regulations across the U.S. and ranking each state based on the relative strength of its privacy regulatory environment.

The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is one of the most robust individual privacy rights frameworks enacted to date. The regulation contains 99 articles, but it is a handful of those that have upended the traditional privacy paradigm.

The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is one of the most robust individual privacy rights frameworks enacted to date. The regulation went into effect on May 25, 2018 and covers any organization that deals with the personal data of a European citizen. It not only defines privacy and how to evaluate whether an organization is properly protecting it, but also sets out consequences with substantial financial penalties for non-compliance.

It would be an understatement to say that data privacy regulations made a big impact in 2018 and 2019.

When it comes to privacy regulation enforcement it can be tricky to understand who is leading the charge.  Each regulation handles things individually.  Let's take a look at those who govern two key regulations: the GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) and the CCPA (California Consumer Privacy Act).