The NAI Releases 2025 Annual Report Highlighting First-of-a-Kind Privacy Self‑Regulation in Digital Advertising

Findings from More Than 70 Member Privacy Reviews Highlight Industry Progress and a Roadmap for Compliance in an Era of Accelerating State Enforcement

WASHINGTON, D.C. — May 13, 2026

The NAI, the leading non‑profit self‑regulatory association dedicated to responsible data practices in digital advertising, today released its 2025 Annual Report, marking 25 years of privacy self‑regulation and offering a comprehensive look at the findings of the NAI’s first review cycle under its new Self‑Regulatory Framework. The report is available at www.thenai.org/annual-report-2025.

Reimagined from the ground up to be more accessible, transparent, and useful, this year’s report comes at an inflection point for the NAI and the digital advertising industry. Over the past year, the NAI completed more than 70 privacy reviews, welcomed four new members, and published seven guidance documents all while navigating one of the most complex regulatory environments in the industry’s history.

“This past year was, by every measure, pivotal for the NAI,” said Leigh Freund, President & CEO of the NAI. “We find ourselves at the center of an industry that bears little resemblance to the one we set out to self-regulate in 2000, and yet the core challenge remains strikingly familiar: how do we enable innovation in digital advertising while ensuring meaningful, durable protections for consumers? Twenty‑five years in, our value proposition — rigorous standards, accountable practices, and a credible voice in shaping privacy policy — is stronger than ever.”

Key Focus Points from the 2025 Privacy Review Cycle

The 2025 Annual Report highlights key takeaways from privacy reviews conducted with NAI member companies under the Self‑Regulatory Framework launched in December 2024, including:

• Written data governance is now a baseline expectation. Federal and state regulators increasingly require documented governance programs — not just good practices. The NAI’s new Data Governance Checklist and Template, released for members-only in March 2026, equips members to meet that expectation.
• Sensitive data classification remains a top priority and ongoing challenge. Significant variation persists in how members classify sensitive data. The NAI’s new Factor Analysis for Health‑Related Sensitive Personal Information, released in February 2026, provides a structured tool to help members make consistent, defensible classifications.
• Conditional rights language should be avoided. State regulators have explicitly rejected phrasing such as “you may have certain rights depending on where you live,” treating it as evidence of noncompliance. Members are encouraged to state rights clearly and universally or to maintain a current, state‑specific list.
• Global Privacy Control (GPC) brings both technical and disclosure obligations. Honoring opt‑out signals is no longer enough. Regulators now expect businesses to accurately explain in their privacy notices how those signals are processed, and a new CCPA requirement that took effect January 1, 2026 mandates on‑site display indicating whether GPC signals have been honored.
• Data rights request fulfillment is increasingly complex. Regulators now expect deletion and access requests to cover derived, inferred, and back‑end data across distributed data environments — making DSAR fulfillment one of the most operationally demanding compliance challenges members face.

New Tools and Resources for Members and Consumers

Over the past year, the NAI launched a suite of tools designed to support members and consumers alike. These include a user‑friendly GPC browser extension, modernized guidance for consumers looking to employ advertising privacy settings, a Consumer Input & Feedback form, a verifiable NAI member badge that companies can embed on their websites, and an updated white paper on the benefits of tailored advertising. 

Public Policy Engagement

In 2025, the NAI submitted over a dozen responses to U.S. state and federal regulatory filings and engaged directly with legislators in Congress and across the states. Priorities included advocating for a uniform national privacy framework, promoting interoperable state rulemaking, championing effective consumer choice mechanisms, encouraging risk‑based protections for sensitive data, and supporting workable transparency and control requirements for data brokers.

Looking Ahead

The NAI’s 2026 priorities include refining the Privacy Review Program, developing AI and advertising governance resources, advancing the work of its Consumer Choice Task Force on Opt‑Out Preference Signals, and deepening engagement with policymakers and enforcement officials as the state‑driven privacy landscape continues to evolve.

“Twenty‑five years later, the NAI’s mission is more important than it has ever been,” Freund added. “The challenges are real, the stakes are high, and the work continues. We look forward to what we will accomplish together with our members and partners to advance Privacy, Trust, and Accountability across the digital advertising industry.”
The full 2025 Annual Report is available at www.thenai.org/annual-report-2025/.

MEDIA CONTACT:
Kate Cox-Nowak
media@networkadvertising.org