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The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has won a resolution in Warsaw which is set to see improved co-ordination between global data protection and privacy authorities.

The ICO led on the debate on international enforcement co-ordination at the 35th International Conference of Data Protection and Privacy Commissioners yesterday. The two-day commissioners' conference was attended by delegates representing data protection authorities and privacy enforcement authorities from all over the world.

The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has won a resolution in Warsaw which is set to see improved co-ordination between global data protection and privacy authorities.
 
The ICO led on the debate on international enforcement co-ordination at the 35th International Conference of Data Protection and Privacy Commissioners yesterday. The two-day commissioners' conference was attended by delegates representing data protection authorities and privacy enforcement authorities from all over the world.
 
At the conference the UK Information Commissioner, Christopher Graham, reported on the work of the International Enforcement Co-ordination Working Group (IECWG) of which he is co-chairman.

Moving the successful resolution, Information Commissioner Christopher Graham said:

“Data protection has to be effective across borders. The service providers today are often global players. The applications know no borders. The data protection regulatory community can only be effective if we work together across jurisdictions.

“We are making great strides forward in enforcement co-ordination. The Warsaw conference saw further progress in this vital task.
 
The resolution, which was adopted unanimously, aimed to improve co-ordination across the different jurisdictions and, in summary, sought:

• To mandate the IECWG to work with other networks to develop a common approach to cross border case handling and enforcement coordination, to be expressed in a multilateral framework document with a view to adoption at the 36th Conference in Mauritius in 2014. This approach will build on work already done by the conference and elsewhere, in particular to address the sharing of enforcement related information and will not interfere with other similar arrangements by other networks.
• To encourage privacy enforcement authorities to look for concrete opportunities to cooperate in particular investigations involving cross-border issues.
• To support the development of a secure information platform which offers a ‘safe space’ for privacy enforcement authorities to share confidential information and, to facilitate the initiation and conduct of coordinated enforcement action and, complement other international enforcement coordination mechanisms.

The conference focused on the challenge to privacy posed by 'the appification of society' and saw the signing of a new declaration – the Warsaw Declaration – outlining the challenges data protection and privacy commissioners face from the rise in mobile applications (apps) and identifying possible solutions.

The conference reaffirmed the importance that even the security services must operate within an appropriate framework of legal and democratic oversight. Next year's global enforcement event will take place in Manchester next April.
 
You can find further details about the other seven resolutions that were agreed yesterday and cover important issues including accreditation, profiling, and web tracking, on the conference website.

Notes to Editors

1. The Information Commissioner’s Office upholds information rights in the public interest, promoting openness by public bodies and data privacy for individuals.

2. The ICO has specific responsibilities set out in the Data Protection Act 1998, the Freedom of Information Act 2000, Environmental Information Regulations 2004 and Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations 2003.

3. The ICO is on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn, and produces a monthly e-newsletter.

4. Anyone who processes personal information must comply with eight principles of the Data Protection Act, which make sure that personal information is:

• Fairly and lawfully processed
• Processed for limited purposes
• Adequate, relevant and not excessive
• Accurate and up to date
• Not kept for longer than is necessary
• Processed in line with your rights
• Secure 
• Not transferred to other countries without adequate protection

5. Further information about how the ICO works with its international counterparts is available on the ICO website.