Privacy scholars from the Asia Pacific region recently gathered to share research, ask difficult questions, push the boundaries of privacy concepts and grapple with the challenges of new technology. Several themes emerged including cultural concepts of privacy, the pervasive collection of personal information, challenges to rights of access to personal information and the impact of the new European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

The 46th Asia Pacific Privacy Authorities Forum (APPA) was hosted by the National Institute for Transparency, Access to Information and Personal Data Protection (INAI), in Manzanillo, Mexico, from 30 November to 2 December 2016.

Sir Bruce Houlton Slane KNZM, CBE, LLB practiced law in New Zealand for almost 50 years, including 11 years as the country’s first Privacy Commissioner.

The Ashley Madison data breach had its enforcement postscript this month, with the dating website’s parent company agreeing to settle with privacy authorities by paying $US1.6 million.

I was recently lucky enough to attend the Asian Privacy Scholars Network 5th International Conference, hosted by the Business School at the University of Auckland.

It’s possible that you haven’t heard of the International Telecommunications Union (ITU). However, it is likely that the ITU affects your life in some way. The ITU is the UN agency responsible for information and communication technology. One of their key functions is standard-setting. They set the technical standards that make it possible to send a text message to an overseas phone without having to get some kind of complex adaptor; they also help to assign satellite orbits so that you don’t get abrupt service interruption from two (or more) satellites crashing into one another.

The International Conference of Data Protection and Privacy Commissioners has been meeting each year since 1979. It has evolved into a reasonably structured format, governed by a five-member Executive Committee consisting of the current year’s host, the previous year’s host, and three elected members.

The International Conference of Data Protection and Privacy Commissioners, which New Zealand has chaired since 2014, had its 38th annual meeting in Marrakesh, Morocco, in October, but more on that later.