Personal data is considered as any information relating to an identified or identifiable physical individual, which is collected, processed, stored, used or disseminated by an organization, such as a company, association or governmental agency. This privacy policy applies to individuals rather than groups or classes of people who also may assert rights of privacy. Some 30 countries and territories have adopted public laws determining personal information handling practices, and corporations and other organizations have established self-regulatory codes of conduct. Privacy ordinances and laws have been enacted by state, provincial, and city governments in a number of countries, such as Australia, Canada, Germany, Japan and the United States. The GIIC recognizes that advancements in processing, transmission and applications offer great economic benefits, yet require continued attention to ensure appropriate protection, as well as for protection measures to be universal.
Privacy enhancing technologies create new tools to limit risks to personal information protection.
Regulatory measures should build on these developments. Major Issues Conventional data privacy legislation enacted in the l970s and l980s, requiring the licensing of data banks should be updated due to advances in information technology and communication networking. Despite attempts to harmonize legal and voluntary approaches to protect personal data, there continue to be inconsistencies that exist in national legislation, and also between national laws and international agreements. For the protection of personal data to be universal, as many as 150 countries and territories should be encouraged to promote private sector leadership and governmental initiatives to ensure protection of personal information as well as reduce the potential of data havens. Operating Principles For national and global information infrastructures to be created and efficiently operated, attention must be directed to the protection of individually identifiable information.