Governance

May 19 2021

Roundtable: Are current models of data protection fit for purpose? Understanding the consequences for economic development

WPF’s Executive Director Pam Dixon will be moderating a Center for Global Development roundtable May 20 to discuss data governance models from the perspective of low and middle income countries. This is part of her ongoing work as co-chair of the Governing Data for Development project working group. Michael Pisa, CGD Policy Fellow and lead for

Feb 24 2021

WPF comments on European Commission proposal for new Health Authority

The European Commission has proposed the creation of a new European Health Emergency Preparedness and Response Authority, HERA. WPF provided comments regarding the proposal, urging the Commission to ensure from the outset that HERA will fulfill its mission with a focus on data interoperability and will include specific data governance and protection measures that will analyze

Dec 03 2020

New Zealand’s New Privacy Law 2020 is Now in Force

New Zealand has meaningfully updated its privacy law, The Privacy Act 2020, which took force December 1. The new Privacy Act 2020 is a significant advancement of New Zealand’s privacy law, and encompasses numerous changes, including: Data Breach Reporting Obligations: There are new reporting obligations for data breaches. Companies are required to notify the Office

Oct 27 2020

World Health Organization updates its data sharing principles; WPF participant in external expert advisory group

This summer, the World Privacy Forum served as a member of the World Health Organization’s External Expert Group on Data Principles. We are pleased to announce that WHO has now published its updated data principles and data sharing policy, as of October 2020. While there are additional items that WPF would like to address in

Sep 12 2019

WPF presenting US biometric privacy analysis at Biometric Institute

Pam Dixon, ED of the World Privacy Forum, will present a detailed analysis of privacy and biometrics in the US to a multistakeholder group convened by the Biometric Institute. The talk will outline key biometric misunderstandings, key risks, priorities for solutions, and key solutions that already exist. WPF has done extensive work in biometrics, including

National IDs Around the World — Interactive map

About this Data Visualization: This interactive map displays the presence...
Report: From the Filing Cabinet to the Cloud: Updating the Privacy Act of 1974

This comprehensive report and proposed bill text is focused on the Privacy Act of 1974, an important and early Federal privacy law that applies to the government sector and some contractors. The Privacy Act was written for the 1970s information era -- an era that was characterized by the use of mainframe computers and filing cabinets. Today's digital information era looks much different than the '70s: smart phones are smarter than the old mainframes, and documents are now routinely digitized and stored and perhaps even analyzed in the cloud, among many other changes. The report focuses on why the Privacy Act needs an update that will bring it into this century, and how that could look and work. This work was written by Robert Gellman, and informed by a two-year multi-stakeholder process.
COVID-19 and HIPAA: HHS’s Troubled Approach to Waiving Privacy and Security Rules for the Pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic strained the U.S. health ecosystem in numerous ways, including putting pressure on the HIPAA privacy and security rules. The Department of Health and Human Services adjusted the privacy and security rules for the pandemic through the use of statutory and administrative HIPAA waivers. While some of the adjustments are appropriate for the emergency circumstances, there are also some meaningful and potentially unwelcome privacy and security consequences. At an appropriate time, the use of HIPAA waivers as a response to health care emergencies needs a thorough review. This report sets out the facts, identifies the issues, and proposes a roadmap for change.