Methodology & Data Sources

PlainRegWatch is a curated intelligence platform tracking US state regulations across five critical categories. Unlike automated scrapers, our data is researched against authoritative tracking organizations and official state legislative records.

Data Sources by Category

• Data Privacy: International Association of Privacy Professionals (IAPP) US State Privacy Legislation Tracker, the most comprehensive continuously updated database of state privacy laws. Supplemented by direct review of enacted law text from each state legislature (e.g. California Legislative Information).
• AI Regulation: National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) AI Legislation Tracker and official state legislative databases. AI regulation is rapidly evolving; we primarily track enacted laws, with a small number of high-signal pending bills marked with a "Pending" status where noted.
• Food Chemical Bans: Environmental Working Group (EWG) Food Additive state legislation tracker, supplemented by official bill text from state legislatures. Covers bans on synthetic food dyes, PFAS in packaging, and other food additive restrictions per FDA Food Additive Status reference.
• Right to Repair: The Repair Association (Repair.org) legislative tracker and state legislature official records. Tracks laws requiring manufacturers to provide repair parts, tools, and documentation (see also the FTC's Nixing the Fix report).
• Employment & Worker Protection: NCSL employment law tracker, US Department of Labor state law database, and official state legislative records. Covers minimum wage, non-compete agreements, pay transparency, and AI hiring rules.

Federal Rule Tracker

Separately from our five state-level categories, we also track final and proposed rules published by 20 major federal agencies (including the EPA, DOT, DOL, HHS, FTC, and FDA) via the Federal Register, the U.S. government's official daily publication of rules, proposed rules, and notices. This federal rule data is general regulatory activity across each agency's full jurisdiction, it is not limited to our five state-tracked categories. Coverage is a recent addition and is not yet as comprehensive as our state-level tracking.

Research Process

Each regulation entry goes through a structured research and verification process before being added to our database:

1. Identified through primary tracking sources (IAPP, NCSL, EWG, Repair.org) or through direct monitoring of state legislative activity
2. Verified against official state legislative text or agency guidance to confirm enactment status and effective date
3. Summarized with key provisions, effective date, compliance requirements, and potential impact on businesses and consumers
4. Tagged with status (enacted, effective, amended) and "last verified" date for freshness tracking
5. Linked to official source documents so users can independently verify the underlying law

Update Frequency

Our database is reviewed and updated on a rolling basis as new regulations are enacted or existing ones are amended. Each entry includes a last verified date. Regulations change frequently, especially in AI and data privacy, always verify through official state sources before making compliance decisions.

What We Don't Track

• Pending bills, beyond a small number of high-signal ones marked with a "Pending" status
• Our five core categories focus on the state-level patchwork; our separate Federal Rule Tracker (see above) covers general federal agency activity but is not scoped to these five categories specifically
• Regulations outside our five tracked categories
• Local (city/county) ordinances, except where they preempt state law

Data Accuracy Commitment

Every regulation entry in our database includes a "last verified" date indicating when the entry's data was compiled from official sources, along with a direct link to that source so readers can confirm the current text themselves. We prioritize accuracy over comprehensiveness, if a regulation's status is uncertain, we note the ambiguity rather than publishing potentially incorrect information. Our goal is to provide a reliable, plain-language overview of the regulatory landscape across all five tracked categories as of each entry's compilation date; regulations can be amended or repealed after that date, so the linked official source is always the authoritative reference.

Corpus placement (#N of M)

State, regulation, and category pages show where each entity sits in the PlainRegWatch corpus, not just the entity's own fields. Placement uses two ladders that can diverge, so a single "#N of M" never pretends one metric is the whole story.

• States - tracked volume: rank among states with at least one tracked regulation, ordered by total_regulations (largest inventory = #1).
• States - tracker score: rank by the portal's 0-100 tracker score (highest = #1). Volume and score diverge: Texas can sit mid-pack on count while near the top on score; Massachusetts can reverse that pattern.
• Regulations - summary depth: within the same category, rank by plain-language summary character length (longest documented summary = #1). This is documentation depth in our corpus, not legal strength.
• Regulations - requirements depth: within the same category, rank by key-requirements character length (longest requirements write-up = #1). Summary and requirements ladders often diverge inside one category.
• Categories - enacted count: rank among the five tracked categories by total_enacted (most enacted statutes = #1).
• Categories - state coverage: rank by distinct states with any row in that category. Enacted count and coverage diverge when one state carries multiple statutes (AI regulation) or pending rows expand geography without adding enacted counts.

Ties break by entity name or id. Ranks are recomputed from the live SQLite tables on each request (cached in-process). They are inventory placement inside this corpus, not an official state rating, enforcement strength score, or legal advice.

Limitations

• Regulatory landscapes change rapidly. Always verify current requirements with official state sources before making compliance decisions.
• We summarize enacted laws in plain language. Summaries necessarily omit some technical details and exceptions.
• We do not claim a complete map of every federal rule that may preempt or interact with state law; the separate Federal Rule Tracker is a recent Register mirror for selected agencies, not a preemption analysis.
• City and county ordinances are not covered except where they preempt state law.
• State-level tracking is limited to our five tracked categories; other important regulatory areas (healthcare, environmental, tax) are not covered at the state level. Our separate Federal Rule Tracker does surface federal agency activity in some of these areas (e.g. EPA environmental rules), but that coverage is general and not curated the way our five core categories are.

Disclaimer

PlainRegWatch provides general informational summaries of enacted state regulations. This is not legal advice and should not be relied upon for compliance decisions. Always verify current requirements through official state sources and consult a qualified attorney for guidance specific to your situation.

Not Affiliated

PlainRegWatch is not affiliated with IAPP, NCSL, EWG, Repair.org, or any government agency, legislature, or regulatory body. We are an independent intelligence platform tracking publicly available regulatory information.