Transatlantic Privacy Perceptions (TAPP), Wave 7 (Autumn 2025)

TAPP is an interdisciplinary research project conducted at the University of Maryland (UMD) and the University of Munich (LMU). The data protection landscape is shaped by various stakeholders from academia, politics, law, technology, journalism, and civil society, making it difficult to harmonize perspectives across sectors, regions, and cultural contexts. The Transatlantic Privacy Perceptions (TAPP) Panel addresses this challenge by surveying influential privacy experts from different legal jurisdictions with varying regulations. This survey captures stakeholders’ attitudes toward digital privacy, focusing on current and future challenges in privacy policy and practice. The sixth survey examines the latest trends in data management, data flows, and political influence within various organizations. It explores changes in data protection and data-sharing practices at the national and international levels, as well as the impact of political changes on access to government and proprietary data. The survey assesses respondents’ influence on the development of data and AI policies at the organizational and national levels. It also evaluates concerns regarding data misuse by hostile actors and perceptions of the impact of data flow restrictions on work, the economy, and scientific research. The results provide insights into the evolving challenges of data governance and the policy responses to them. During the survey period from August 2025 to September 2025, data protection experts working on data protection in the United States and/or Europe were interviewed via online interviews (CAWI). Respondents were selected through a careful screening process based on their visibility, prominence, and influence in this field. Professional interest in data protection-related topics, or both personal and professional interest in data protection-related topics; data protection as part of one’s work; laws and regulations on digital data protection in (the U.S. / the EU / country) tend to favor the rights and needs of companies or those of individual users; laws and regulations on digital data protection in (the U.S. / the EU / country) promote vs. hinder innovation and the development of privacy-friendly practices and technologies in companies; laws on digital data protection in (the U.S. / the EU / country) cover more areas than necessary, cover fewer areas than necessary, or cover all necessary areas; full or partial enforcement of data protection measures required under (U.S. / EU / national) law; overall assessment of current digital data protection laws and regulations in (the U.S. / the EU / country); optimism or pessimism regarding the future development of digital data protection laws and regulations in (the U.S. / the EU / country) over the next few years; data protection policies in the U.S. should be established at the federal level or at the state level; data protection policies in Europe should be established at the EU level or at the level of EU member states; assessment of the performance of the following agencies with regard to protecting citizens’ digital privacy: State Office of Statistics, State Tax Authority, and Social Security Administration; assessment of the performance of various companies regarding the protection of citizens’ digital privacy (Apple, Google, Meta, X (formerly Twitter), Amazon, Microsoft, Visa, Mastercard); assessment of the performance of various AI companies regarding the protection of citizens’ digital privacy (OpenAI, Anthropic, xAI, Mistral AI, Alibaba, Tesla, DeepSeek); general assessment of current data protection policies and practices of organizations in (the U.S. / the EU / country); optimism or pessimism regarding the future development of data protection policies and practices of organizations in the U.S. / the EU / country over the next few years. Demography: Years of experience with data protection issues; respondent performs privacy-related activities as part of his paid job vs. as a volunteer or activist; sector for privacy work (academia, government, journalism, law, non-profit/NGO/ Think Tank, Tech industry, non-Tech industry, volunteer/ activist); region of expertise: policy context with which the respondent is most familiar regarding data protection issues (Europe, United States, Europe and the United States, specific country or region). Additionally coded: Respondent ID, Response ID, wave; repeat respondent (individuals who have participated in at least one wave of TAPP); response status; willingness to participate in future waves of the TAPP panel.