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 · Pharmaceutical Preparations show all sectors
manufacturing of pharmaceutical products, enhanced data security and privacy measures, sustainability, importation
Read in the 10-K filed Feb 13, 2026 ↗
jurisdictions related to the collection, storage, use, sharing, and security of personal data, including health information.
Read in the 10-K filed Feb 13, 2026 ↗
Regulators globally are imposing data privacy and security requirements, such as the E.U.’s GDPR and other domestic data
Read in the 10-K filed Feb 13, 2026 ↗
privacy and security laws, such as the California Consumer Privacy Act and the California Privacy Rights Act. These and
Read in the 10-K filed Feb 13, 2026 ↗
personal information. Compliance with privacy laws and regulations is a rigorous and time-intensive process that may
Read in the 10-K filed Feb 13, 2026 ↗
genetic therapies involves processing more personal data than traditional therapies, increasing our risk exposure.
Read in the 10-K filed Feb 13, 2026 ↗
incidents and privacy violations, particularly focused on online data sharing, continue to increase. Government investigations
Read in the 10-K filed Feb 13, 2026 ↗
laws or regulations, including anti-corruption or anti-bribery regulations, the GDPR, or other laws and regulations, during the
Read in the 10-K filed Feb 13, 2026 ↗
personal information, financial information and intellectual property. Disruption, infiltration, or failure of our information
Read in the 10-K filed Feb 13, 2026 ↗
candidates, or lead to data privacy or security breach. We use cloud technologies and any failure by cloud or other technology
Read in the 10-K filed Feb 13, 2026 ↗
service providers to adequately safeguard their systems and prevent cyber-attacks or data privacy incidents could disrupt our
Read in the 10-K filed Feb 13, 2026 ↗
loss of critical or sensitive information, including personal information, and could give rise to legal liability and regulatory
Read in the 10-K filed Feb 13, 2026 ↗
with legal or regulatory requirements, inappropriate disclosure of confidential information or personal information, and loss
Read in the 10-K filed Feb 13, 2026 ↗
In India, the DPDP Act forms the personal information protection and regulatory requirements for organizations who process any personal information within the country. The DPDP Act is currently in the initial phase of implementation with a 12-18 month phased compliance timeline for organizations although there are current discussions regarding shortening this timeline. The DPDP Act focuses on data minimization, purpose limitation, and user consent and includes a requirement for a Data Protection Officer. While similar to other data protection laws such as the GDPR, several requirements are unique to the DPDP Act such as registered consent managers and a lack of available legal bases for processing personal information without consent. These requirements, along with other requirements unique to the DPDP Act, will require us to enhance our data privacy processes and practices accordingly.
Read in the 10-K filed Feb 26, 2026 ↗