International and Regional Liaison

Contemporary privacy issues transcend national boundaries. For this reason, the PCPD participates extensively in the work of regional and international privacy organizations where representatives influence discussions and benefit from the experiences of other jurisdictions.

On 1-2 June 2005, the PCPD hosted the first technical assistance seminar for the APEC Electronic Commerce Steering Group (ECSG) to implement the APEC Privacy Framework, as member economies agreed during the course of 2005. Some 90 delegates from 15 member economies attended the seminar in June 2005. The majority of participants were senior government officials, representatives of the business community and civil society, consumer advocates and members of academia. The seminar addressed key issues such as maximising the benefits of privacy protection and information flows, public education on domestic privacy protection and furthering cooperation between public and private sectors. The group also looked at appropriate remedies for situation where privacy protection is violated and a mechanism for reporting the domestic implementation of the APEC Privacy Framework.

	Snapshots of the APEC Electronic Commerce Steering Group technical assistance seminar.

In November 2005, the Privacy Commissioner represented Hong Kong's interests at the Asia Pacific Privacy Authorities Forum (APPA) held in Melbourne. APPA is expanding membership across the region to encourage more efficient sharing of information through a website, a system of secondment and web-based training seminars. It is also developing a regional infrastructure and secretariat that will facilitate debate on privacy issues with a view to adopting a collective position on matters of common concern.

Privacy Commissioner Mr. Roderick Woo (first right) attended the Asia Pacific Privacy Authorities Forum help in Melbourne.