Article
Life sciences data privacy: Managing growing complexity
Sept. 10, 2025 · Authored by Darren R. Jones, Mark Scallon, Mike Vanderbilt
In a rapidly evolving digital world, life sciences data privacy is becoming a top priority as life sciences companies are under increasing pressure to safeguard personal data while meeting a growing array of local, national and international privacy obligations. With every advancement in digitalization, from virtual clinical trials to cross-border data collaborations, the need for robust, compliant privacy practices becomes even more critical.
Navigating today’s global privacy landscape
Life sciences organizations face unique data privacy challenges due to the nature of their work. From handling sensitive data on healthcare professionals (HCPs) to managing multinational product development pipelines, companies must ensure personal information is processed lawfully across multiple jurisdictions. The fragmented legal landscape only heightens this complexity.
In the absence of a U.S. federal data privacy law, states continue to pass individual privacy laws, resulting in a patchwork of obligations. Meanwhile, international laws like the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) remain highly influential, even for companies headquartered elsewhere due to its extraterritorial scope and principle-based approach to ensuring personal data is processed lawfully, fairly, and transparently.
Key developments currently shaping the regulatory environment include:
- GDPR: Applies to organizations within and outside of the EU that process personal data of EU residents, setting a high bar for personal data processing standards including explicit informed consent and data subject rights.
- The California Consumer Protection Act (CCPA): The first major U.S. state data privacy law which grants residents enhanced rights over their personal data and which opened the flood gates to some 20 other U.S. state privacy laws to date. The CCPA applies to certain businesses that collect personal data from California residents, regardless of where the business is located. The CCPA was strengthened by the California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA), which added new rights and limiting the use of sensitive personal information.
