Privacy & Information Security Law Blog

Last week, the Centre for Information Policy Leadership (“CIPL”) and several privacy team members at Hunton & Williams LLP attended the 39th International Conference of Data Protection and Privacy Commissioners in Hong Kong (the “Conference”). The weeklong event hosted by Stephen Kai-yi Wong, Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data, Hong Kong was attended by over 3000 privacy professionals from data protection authorities (“DPAs”), industry and research sectors. CIPL hosted two events at the conference, as well as a joint roundtable with Hunton & Williams and Citibank, throughout the week.

On September 25, 2017, CIPL held a side event on How Can DPAs Maximize Effectiveness, Engagement and Leadership within the Context of Increased Responsibilities and Limited Resources? This event coincided with the launch of CIPL’s discussion paper on Regulating for Results: Strategies and Priorities for Leadership and Engagement (the “Discussion Paper”). Over 90 privacy professionals, including 18 DPAs attended the event which was led by a panel of distinguished privacy experts.

CIPL President Bojana Bellamy, who was also a member of the Conference Program Committee, led the session with Richard Thomas, CIPL Global Strategy Advisor, and Christopher Hodges, Head of the CMS Research Program on Civil Justice Systems at the University of Oxford. They were joined by panelists Giovanni Buttarelli, European Data Protection Supervisor; Helen Dixon, Irish Data Protection Commissioner; Stephen Wong, Hong Kong Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data; Hugh Stevenson, Deputy Director, Office of International Affairs, U.S. Federal Trade Commission; and Kara Sutton, Senior Manager, Center for Global Regulatory Cooperation, U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

On September 26, 2017, CIPL, alongside Hunton & Williams partners Aaron Simpson and Lisa Sotto, co-hosted a roundtable on the APEC Cross-Border Privacy Rules (“CBPR”) system and the EU General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”) with Citibank. The roundtable provided a forum for over 80 industry representatives and the European Commission to discuss key issues and exchange views on topical APEC CBPR issues, from updates on implementation to interoperability between EU transfer mechanisms and APEC to improving the CBPR system. The GDPR session also focused on related challenges and the global impact of the GDPR on different stakeholders and privacy regimes.

On September 29, CIPL held its third event of the week, an open session on Regulating for Results in Digital Economy—Strategies and Priorities for Leadership and Engagement, based on its recent Discussion Paper. The session stimulated a discussion around the realistic setting of priorities to maximize the effectiveness of data protection in the context of the digital age.

The 40th International Conference of Data Protection and Privacy Commissioners will be held in Brussels, Belgium in October 2018.