Privacy Law AOPs: Status of Legal Practice Area in 2025

Privacy law is a growing and dynamic area of practice for many attorneys. A wave of state legislation with data protection requirements places new obligations on businesses and public institutions. For lawyers, this is an opportunity to provide more complex legal services in 2025.

The history of privacy law

The roots of privacy law in the U.S. go back further than one might think. Supreme Court rulings have found that the First, Third, Fourth, and Fifth amendments of the Constitution contain a right to privacy. It was in 1917 that a judge ruled there were protections for the contents of sealed mail. 

In 1974, a pair of laws protected student academic records and put guardrails on the federal governments’ collection and use of personal information. The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) of 1996 and the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) of 1998 were significant federal advances in the areas of health information privacy and children’s online data.

These few federal laws apply to only some kinds of information. In recent years, most of the advances in privacy law have happened at the state level. 

The state of privacy law in 2025

There has been an increase in privacy laws introduced by states to protect various aspects of privacy. Comprehensive privacy laws had been passed by 12 states by the end of 2023. Seven more states passed such laws in 2024. This doesn’t include the several states that passed additional laws aimed at specific types of privacy protections, such as against data brokers and artificial intelligence.

Heading into 2025, eight states will see their new privacy laws go into effect. This impacts private companies and government agencies, who have to comply with these new regulations. Although there was a federal law proposed in 2024 that would impose some comprehensive standards, this has yet to be passed by Congress. 

The work of privacy lawyers

The flurry of new privacy laws have put more pressure on entities that have to assess their activities and policies to make sure they comply with the law. This can increase the work of lawyers in 2025, as these organizations need legal advice and services.

Public institutions, non-profits, and for-profit companies might all have to be concerned about privacy. Lawyers most often deal with health information, education privacy, and online data, among many other categories of private information.

Privacy lawyers provide services such as:

• Drafting privacy policies for organizations
• Writing contracts that cover privacy issues
• Privacy litigation in response to a data breach or other privacy violation
• Compliance advising within organizations
• Advising policy makers on privacy issues

How lawyers can prepare

Going into 2025, lawyers can take a few steps to prepare for an increased focus on privacy law. Even those attorneys who don’t practice privacy law specifically can expect these issues to permeate some client files. Business lawyers might receive new queries from clients about their online marketing strategies and whether they have to worry about new rules about collecting website visitor and customer data.

Here are some ways to get ready:

• Review the legislation. Using a source like the International Association of Privacy Professionals (IAPP)’s legislation tracker, get up to speed on new laws in your state. If you have a client who does business in multiple states, get to know the laws that might apply to them.
• Know the definitions. What information is subject to privacy protections can vary from state to state. The laws can change the definition of “sensitive data” with new amendments. For many businesses, fitting their activities into the definitions in privacy legislation might be confusing, and they will turn to an attorney to help them make sense of the rules.
• Understand the technology. To understand how the law applies to client situations, an attorney should review the details of data collection technology. The IAPP has helpful information on these issues, such as what it means for targeted advertising and consumer-facing data collection.
• Note the dates. Many state laws come into effect or have significant legislative milestones coming up in 2025. Use the IAPP’s legislation tracker to familiarize yourself with dates relevant to your practice.
• Consider certification. The IAPP offers an ABA-accredited Privacy Law Specialist designation. For attorneys who want to fully integrate this practice area, certification can give them a valuable credential as well as in-depth knowledge. 

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