Privacy and data rules
173 of 521 companies added a paragraph in Risk Factors that uses one of these words:
privacy, GDPR, personal data, personal information.
The paragraph is in the latest 10-K and nothing like it was in the one before.
It counts text; it does not say how serious a risk is. Words in capitals only (such as AI) must be in capitals.
By sector
Sector is the SEC's industry description of the company. Each count opens that sector's quotes below.
| Sector | Companies | Compared |
|---|---|---|
| Orthopedic, Prosthetic & Surgical Appliances & Supplies | 5 | 5 |
| Computer Peripheral Equipment, NEC | 2 | 2 |
| Instruments For Meas & Testing of Electricity & Elec Signals | 2 | 2 |
| Men's & Boys' Furnishgs, Work Clothg, & Allied Garments | 2 | 2 |
| Rubber & Plastics Footwear | 2 | 2 |
| Air Courier Services | 1 | 1 |
| Apparel & Other Finishd Prods of Fabrics & Similar Matl | 1 | 1 |
| Bottled & Canned Soft Drinks & Carbonated Waters | 1 | 1 |
| Electronic Components & Accessories | 1 | 1 |
| Electronic Connectors | 1 | 1 |
| Engines & Turbines | 1 | 1 |
| Gas & Other Services Combined | 1 | 1 |
| General Industrial Machinery & Equipment, NEC | 1 | 1 |
| Grain Mill Products | 1 | 1 |
| Leather & Leather Products | 1 | 1 |
| Meat Packing Plants | 1 | 1 |
| Misc Industrial & Commercial Machinery & Equipment | 1 | 1 |
| Miscellaneous Food Preparations & Kindred Products | 1 | 1 |
| Oil & Gas Field Machinery & Equipment | 1 | 1 |
| Paints, Varnishes, Lacquers, Enamels & Allied Prods | 1 | 1 |
| Paper Mills | 1 | 1 |
| Radiotelephone Communications | 1 | 1 |
| Real Estate | 1 | 1 |
| Retail-Drug Stores and Proprietary Stores | 1 | 1 |
| Retail-Eating & Drinking Places | 1 | 1 |
| Retail-Radio, Tv & Consumer Electronics Stores | 1 | 1 |
| Retail-Retail Stores, NEC | 1 | 1 |
| Rolling Drawing & Extruding of Nonferrous Metals | 1 | 1 |
| Services-Advertising Agencies | 1 | 1 |
| Services-Detective, Guard & Armored Car Services | 1 | 1 |
| Services-Equipment Rental & Leasing, NEC | 1 | 1 |
| Services-Miscellaneous Amusement & Recreation | 1 | 1 |
| Services-Video Tape Rental | 1 | 1 |
| Special Industry Machinery, NEC | 1 | 1 |
| Water Supply | 1 | 1 |
| Wholesale-Medical, Dental & Hospital Equipment & Supplies | 1 | 1 |
| Computer Communications Equipment | 2 | 3 |
| Electronic Computers | 2 | 3 |
| Measuring & Controlling Devices, NEC | 2 | 3 |
| Retail-Auto Dealers & Gasoline Stations | 2 | 3 |
| Services-Commercial Physical & Biological Research | 2 | 3 |
| Services-Computer Integrated Systems Design | 2 | 3 |
| Services-Consumer Credit Reporting, Collection Agencies | 2 | 3 |
| Services-Prepackaged Software | 12 | 19 |
| Finance Services | 17 | 28 |
| Biological Products, (No Diagnostic Substances) | 3 | 5 |
| Computer Storage Devices | 3 | 5 |
| Industrial Instruments For Measurement, Display, and Control | 3 | 5 |
| Electronic & Other Electrical Equipment (No Computer Equip) | 2 | 4 |
| Retail-Eating Places | 2 | 4 |
| Services-Computer Processing & Data Preparation | 2 | 4 |
| Accident & Health Insurance | 1 | 2 |
| Cigarettes | 1 | 2 |
| Cutlery, Handtools & General Hardware | 1 | 2 |
| Industrial Organic Chemicals | 1 | 2 |
| Mining & Quarrying of Nonmetallic Minerals (No Fuels) | 1 | 2 |
| Paperboard Containers & Boxes | 1 | 2 |
| Printed Circuit Boards | 1 | 2 |
| Radio & Tv Broadcasting & Communications Equipment | 1 | 2 |
| Retail-Auto & Home Supply Stores | 1 | 2 |
| Services-Medical Laboratories | 1 | 2 |
| Services-To Dwellings & Other Buildings | 1 | 2 |
| Telephone Communications (No Radiotelephone) | 1 | 2 |
| Transportation Services | 1 | 2 |
| Trucking (No Local) | 1 | 2 |
| Wholesale-Groceries & Related Products | 1 | 2 |
| Services-Computer Programming, Data Processing, Etc. | 2 | 5 |
| Services-Business Services, NEC | 6 | 16 |
| Investment Advice | 3 | 8 |
| National Commercial Banks | 4 | 11 |
| Real Estate Investment Trusts | 9 | 27 |
| Insurance Agents, Brokers & Service | 2 | 6 |
| Air-Cond & Warm Air Heatg Equip & Comm & Indl Refrig Equip | 1 | 3 |
| Computer & office Equipment | 1 | 3 |
| Life Insurance | 1 | 3 |
| Perfumes, Cosmetics & Other Toilet Preparations | 1 | 3 |
| Retail-Building Materials, Hardware, Garden Supply | 1 | 3 |
| Soap, Detergents, Cleang Preparations, Perfumes, Cosmetics | 1 | 3 |
| Surgical & Medical Instruments & Apparatus | 3 | 10 |
| Security Brokers, Dealers & Flotation Companies | 2 | 7 |
| Semiconductors & Related Devices | 4 | 15 |
| Search, Detection, Navigation, Guidance, Aeronautical Sys | 1 | 4 |
| Security & Commodity Brokers, Dealers, Exchanges & Services | 1 | 4 |
| Hospital & Medical Service Plans | 1 | 5 |
| Hotels & Motels | 1 | 5 |
| Laboratory Analytical Instruments | 1 | 5 |
| Retail-Variety Stores | 1 | 5 |
| Pharmaceutical Preparations | 2 | 11 |
| Fire, Marine & Casualty Insurance | 2 | 12 |
| Petroleum Refining | 1 | 6 |
| State Commercial Banks | 1 | 6 |
| Crude Petroleum & Natural Gas | 1 | 7 |
| Electric Services | 2 | 15 |
432 paragraphs · Measuring & Controlling Devices, NEC show all sectors
As global standards and regulations relating to AI increase and change, it could result in additional costs, reputational harm, legal liability, and regulatory scrutiny related to our use of AI. Additionally, misuse of sensitive data used in AI models may lead to privacy violations or non-compliance with data protection laws.
Read in the 10-K filed Nov 12, 2025 ↗
As a global company, our business is subject to a complex and evolving set of international and U.S. laws and regulations, including export control laws, import and trade restrictions or sanctions, anti-bribery laws, anti-competition regulations, data privacy requirements, labor relations laws, and tax laws.
Read in the 10-K filed Feb 25, 2026 ↗
In addition, our use of AI and machine learning relies on access to large datasets, which creates novel data privacy challenges. Evolving laws and regulations governing AI may impose new restrictions on how we collect and use data to train our models, potentially limiting our ability to innovate.
Read in the 10-K filed Feb 25, 2026 ↗
Amendments and revisions to existing data privacy legislation, and other developments impacting data privacy and data protection may require us to modify our data processing practices and policies, increase the complexity of providing our products and services and cause us to incur substantial costs in an effort to comply. Failure to comply with these data privacy
Read in the 10-K filed Feb 25, 2026 ↗