10 Apr 2015, 09:00

Media release by Chair, Executive Committee, International Conference of Data Protection and Privacy Commissioners

The International Conference of Data Protection and Privacy Commissioners has welcomed the recent announcement by the United Nations Human Rights Council to appoint a special rapporteur on privacy for a period of three years.

The Conference Chair, John Edwards, hailed this as an historic step and added:

“Data Protection and Privacy Authorities everywhere welcome the United Nations taking a lead in seeking to ensure the promotion and protection of privacy, especially given the challenges posed by new technologies.  

“The Conference has repeatedly resolved to encourage and support international efforts to better protect privacy and stands ready to cooperate fully with the Special Rapporteur to complete the mandate assigned by the UN.”

Background

The International Conference of Data Protection and Privacy Commissioners first met in 1979 and has been the premier global forum for data protection authorities for over 3 decades. The Conference seeks to provide leadership at international level in data protection and privacy. It does this by connecting the efforts of about 100 privacy and data protection authorities from across the globe. Further details are available here.

The Conference Executive Committee includes members from France, Mauritius, Netherlands, New Zealand and the USA. John Edwards, New Zealand Privacy Commissioner, was elected as chair in 2014. The Executive Committee was given an express mandate to represent the Conference in dialogue with the UN in a Resolution on Privacy in the Digital Age adopted at the 36^th Conference in 2014.

The UN Human Rights Council decision is available here.