THIRTY YEARS AFTER THE OECD PRIVACY GUIDELINES 2011 ORGANISATION FOR ECONOMIC CO-OPERATION AND DEVELOPMENT The OECD is a unique forum where governments work together to address the economic, social and environmental challenges of globalisation. The OECD is also at the forefront of efforts to understand and to help governments respond to new developments and concerns, such as corporate governance, the information economy and the challenges of an ageing population. The Organisation provides a setting where governments can compare policy experiences, seek answers to common problems, identify good practice and work to co-ordinate domestic and international policies. The OECD member countries are: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Chile, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Korea, Luxembourg, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, the Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, the United Kingdom and the United States. The Commission of the European Communities takes part in the work of the OECD. © OECD 2011 Cover image: © kentoh – Fotolia.com No reproduction, copy, transmission or translation of this document may be made without written permission. Applications should be sent to OECD Publishing:
[email protected] FOREWORD – 3 Foreword The OECD has played major role in shaping and defining how privacy is protected around the globe. The OECD Guidelines Governing the Protection of Privacy and Transborder Flows of Data were the first inter- nationally agreed-upon set of privacy principles. Canada participated in the Expert Group which produced the Guidelines under the wise leadership of the Honourable Michael Kirby of Australia. The Guidelines have been extremely influential in Canada, where, with minor changes, they were incorporated into the Personal Information Protec- tion and Electronic Documents Act, Canada’s private-sector privacy law.