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 · Printed Circuit Boards show all sectors
•Failure to comply with data privacy and cybersecurity laws and regulations could expose us to government enforcement, significant penalties, civil litigation, and reputational harm.
Read in the 10-K filed May 20, 2026 ↗
We are incorporating AI solutions into aspects of our business, including our manufacturing operations, design and engineering services, and internal processes, and we also rely on AI tools used by our employees, vendors, or other third parties. AI technologies are complex and rapidly evolving, and our business may be adversely affected if we are unable to successfully integrate AI into our operations, products, and services in a timely and cost-effective manner. AI is subject to increasing regulatory, legal, and ethical scrutiny, and its use may give rise to risks related to accuracy, bias, intellectual property infringement or misappropriation, data privacy, cybersecurity, and compliance with evolving laws and regulations.
Read in the 10-K filed May 20, 2026 ↗
Changes in U.S. and foreign government policies, including those relating to trade, sanctions, information security, data privacy, national security, and foreign investment, may affect the attractiveness of our services to customers and our ability to conduct business with certain customers or suppliers. We have significant operations in China, which have been, and could continue to be, affected by evolving laws, regulations, and geopolitical developments involving China. We could be subject to reputational harm if any of our customers, former customers or vendors were subject to U.S. sanctions or did business with sanctioned entities or countries or otherwise violated applicable sanctions or export control laws. Furthermore, regional conflicts, including the conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East, including the conflict in Israel and recent U.S. military operations in Iran, and tension between China and Taiwan, could result in sanctions, regional market instability, increased energy and transportation costs, supply chain disruptions, and other adverse regional and global financial and economic conditions, any of which can impact the demand for, or our ability to sell, our products and services in the impacted regions. Escalation of hostilities involving Iran, Israel, and the United States or regional proxy groups could adversely affect regional stability, threaten critical infrastructure such as data centers, impair access to ports and transportation routes including the Strait of Hormuz, and increase fuel, energy, freight, insurance, and security costs. In addition, expanded sanctions, export controls, or other governmental measures affecting the region could impair our ability to conduct business, collect receivables, or repatriate funds. In particular, geopolitical changes in China-Taiwan relations could disrupt the operations of several companies in Taiwan that are critical to the global supply of semiconductors and other electronic components on which many of our customers depend, and any escalation of tensions could materially affect our supply chain and operations.
Read in the 10-K filed May 20, 2026 ↗
We are, from time to time, subject to claims, lawsuits, investigations, and regulatory or administrative proceedings across the jurisdictions where we operate. These matters may involve commercial disputes, regulatory compliance, intellectual property, antitrust, product liability, employment and labor, privacy and data protection, securities laws, governance, and tax. Adverse outcomes, whether by judgment, settlement, consent decree, or otherwise, could require monetary payments, penalties, injunctive relief, operational changes, monitorships, remedial measures, or enhanced compliance controls. Even if we prevail, we may incur substantial costs, increased insurance premiums, and management distraction that disrupts our operations and harms our reputation with customers, suppliers, employees, and regulators. Outcomes are inherently unpredictable, and our accruals and insurance coverage may be insufficient or unavailable. Any of these matters could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations, and cash flows.
Read in the 10-K filed May 20, 2026 ↗
Failure to comply with data privacy and cybersecurity laws and regulations could expose us to government enforcement, significant penalties, civil litigation, and reputational harm.
Read in the 10-K filed May 20, 2026 ↗
We regularly move data across borders to operate our global business, and are consequently subject to a broad and continuously evolving set of privacy and data protection laws and regulations both domestically and internationally, including the European Union General Data Protection Regulation ("GDPR"), the UK GDPR, China's Personal Information Protection Law ("PIPL"), India's Digital Personal Data Protection Act, and comprehensive privacy statutes in numerous U.S. states, including the California Consumer Privacy Act ("CCPA"), as amended by the California Privacy Rights Act ("CPRA"). These laws impose numerous, and oftentimes differing, obligations on data controllers and processors, and new requirements continue to be proposed and enacted across U.S. federal, state, and international jurisdictions. Compliance can be costly, and the complexity and inconsistency of these frameworks across jurisdictions poses significant compliance challenges that have resulted, and will continue to result, in increased costs and required modifications to our data processing practices and policies.
Read in the 10-K filed May 20, 2026 ↗
Any actual or perceived failure to comply with applicable data privacy or cybersecurity laws, related contractual obligations, or other data protection standards, whether by us, a third-party service provider, or another party, could result in government inquiries, regulatory investigations, significant fines and penalties, orders to cease or modify our data practices, damages for contract breach, and civil litigation, as well as harm to our reputation and market position. We may also be required to invest significant additional resources to comply with evolving cybersecurity and AI-related regulations and to modify and enhance our information systems and controls. Our liability insurance may not be sufficient in type or amount to cover us against all claims related to privacy violations or regulatory non-compliance.
Read in the 10-K filed May 20, 2026 ↗