What's happening with Privacy at the NAIC and in the States?

This page contains all the information you’ll need to know what’s happening with privacy at the NAIC and in the states:  updates on NAIC and state privacy activity; links to model laws and regulations; frequently-asked questions and answers; links to other helpful sources of privacy information; and more…

First, some background:

	Beginning in the early 1980s, NAIC members recognized the importance of protecting the privacy of insurance consumers.  With the adoption of the Insurance Information and Privacy Protection Model Act, the NAIC established an affirmative consent (“opt-in”) standard for the disclosure of insurance consumers’ personal information, including financial and health.  Currently, 13 states have laws based on the 1982 Model Act.  The NAIC believes state laws based on this model act are generally more protective of consumer privacy than the privacy provisions of the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (GLBA).
	In 1998, the NAIC turned its focus specifically to the privacy of personal health information.  The Health Information Privacy Model Act was developed primarily to give guidance to Congress and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, which were considering health information privacy protections under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA).
	In February 2000, the NAIC established the Privacy Issues Working Group to give guidance to state insurance regulators in response to the enactment of the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (GLBA), which required the state regulators to promulgate regulations enforcing the law’s new consumer privacy provisions.  On September 26, 2000, the Privacy of Consumer Financial and Health Information Model Regulation was adopted by the full NAIC membership without opposition. Click on the "Privacy Publications" button at the left to find out how to order copies of the Insurance Information and Privacy Protection Model Act, the Health Information Privacy Model Act and the Privacy of Consumer Financial and Health Information Model Regulation.
	The NAIC’s Privacy Issues Working Group meets on a regular basis to give guidance to the states and discuss implementation and interpretation issues with respect to the 1982 Model Act and the Model Regulation.   Click on the "Privacy Issues Working Group" button at the left for more information on the activities of the Privacy Issues Working Group and the Privacy Notice Content Task Force.

Current Status in the States

One year after adoption of the NAIC model privacy regulation, 44 states and the District of Columbia have laws and/or regulations that meet GLBA’s privacy standards: 

	16 states have enacted regulations/laws based on the NAIC model privacy regulation, which protects financial and health information;
	15 states have enacted laws/regulations based the NAIC model privacy regulation’s notice and opt out provisions protecting financial privacy (several of these states have health protections in place or will enact them in the future);
	13 states have retained the NAIC’s 1982 model privacy act on their books; and
	7 states have privacy regulations pending, but have not taken final action.

Click here to see color maps illustrating state action on privacy.

Click here to access state privacy policies and regulations

Click here for a summary of state privacy laws and regulations, including citations and status.
[ Word  |  PDF ]

Click here for a list of staff members in each state insurance department who handle privacy issues.