Estivill-Castro, Vladimir; Brankovic, Ljiljana; Dowe, David L --- "Privacy advocates meet in Hong Kong - agenda set for future campaigns" [1999] PrivLawPRpr 43; (1999) 6(3) Privacy Law & Policy Reporter 32

Privacy advocates meet in Hong Kong — agenda set for future campaigns

A privacy agenda for the 21st century

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Privacy advocates meet in Hong Kong — agenda set for future campaigns

Supporters of privacy from around the world recently gathered in Hong Kong for the 1999 Privacy Agenda Conference. At the conference, representatives from an international group of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) issued a declaration supporting strong privacy protections and continued vigilance against privacy abuses.

The meeting of NGOs from around the world took place as data protection commissioners were meeting to review new threats to privacy and new opportunities for privacy protection. Earlier in the week, Consumer International president Pamela Chan said that governments should conduct research on the potential for abuse in the way internet transactions are carried out. She also urged the adoption of new safeguards to protect the privacy of individuals.

Privacy International director Simon Davies said, ‘We plan to go forward with an aggressive campaign to protect the right of privacy and to stand against all who would undermine this critical freedom.’

Marc Rotenberg, director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center, said that national governments must continue to listen to the ‘public voice’ as they go forward with policies for the internet. ‘Privacy and the protection of consumer interests remain a central concern for the internet economy.’

Participants in the Privacy Agenda conference included representatives from Australia, Canada, Denmark, Italy, Hong Kong SAR, Japan, Malaysia, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Thailand, the United Kingdom and the United States.

A privacy agenda for the 21st century

On the occasion of the 21st annual meeting of the international data protection and privacy commissioners, supporters of privacy from around the world gathered in Hong Kong on 16 September 1999 to discuss the current state of privacy protection, identify new threats to privacy and set out an agenda for the protection of privacy in the 21st century.

The 1999 Privacy Agenda conference re-affirmed support for:

• the Universal Declaration of Human Rights art 12;
• the United Nations Guidelines for the Regulation of Computerized Data Files;
• the OECD Recommendation Concerning and Guidelines Governing the Protection of Privacy and Transborder Flows of Personal Data (OECD Privacy Guidelines);
• the Council of Europe Convention for the Protection of Individuals with Regard to the Automatic Processing of Personal Data; and
• the Directive of the European Parliament and the Council of Europe on the Protection of Individuals with Regard to the Processing of Personal Data and the Free Movement of Such Data (EU Data Directive).

The conference also expressed concern regarding:

• abuses of personal privacy around the world by governments and the private sector;
• the ‘Safe Harbour’ proposal now under consideration by the US; and
• the implementation of privacy invasive technologies.

Finally, the conference called on supporters of privacy from around the world to undertake an international campaign to safeguard the inalienable right of privacy, to preserve human dignity, and to:

• promote privacy protection through legal rules, standards, and technological methods;
• advocate the adoption and enforcement of fair information practices;
• urge recognition of informational self-determination;
• inform the public of the growing threats to personal privacy, encourage public education and awareness of methods to protect privacy, and provide information, training and resources to the global NGO community;
• oppose the development of DNA databases, techniques for law enforcement access to private communications, privacy invasive copyright management systems, and other systematic assaults on personal liberty and intellectual freedom;
• assess the ‘public interest’ claims that oppose privacy safeguards;
• develop guidelines for privacy impact statements and other methods to assess privacy risks of information systems;
• pressure privacy agencies to enforce privacy rules and standards;
• ensure participation by NGOs in meetings of national, regional and international organisations, including the World Trade Organization, the International Telecommunications Union, and the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development;
• pursue development of an international privacy charter; and
• take such other steps as are necessary to protect privacy in the 21st century.

This article is comprised of material from the Electronic Privacy Information Centre web site at <http://www.epic.org> .