Data privacy continues to be a critical strategic issue for governments and private businesses globally. Data transfers across countries are a crucial issue regarding data privacy, owing to how various countries approach data privacy in their distinct ways.
Hence, it is no surprise when various operational frameworks are being evaluated, tested, and deployed to facilitate data transfers across borders that guarantee certain requirements and standards are maintained throughout the process.
The Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation (APEC) Cross-Border Privacy Rules (CBPR) system is one such framework. Organizations can leverage government-backed data privacy certification to demonstrate their data protection practices are fully compliant with internationally-recognized data privacy regulations.
The APEC CBPR system is based on the APEC Privacy Framework that was developed and endorsed by all 21 APEC leaders in 2005 and updated to reflect the evolution of data privacy in 2015. The APEC CBPR is a framework designed to ensure cross-border data transfers between member states can be carried out in a seamless manner. Its principles and operating mechanisms are similar to that of the EU Binding Corporate Rules (BCR) established by the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
One of the stated benefits of the APEC CBPR system has been to ensure that any regulatory differences between member countries do not hinder businesses’ ability to provide innovative products and services.
Back in April 2022, Canada, Japan, the Republic of Korea, the Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, and the USA announced the launch of the Global CBPR Forum. Although the APEC CBPR and Privacy Recognition for Processors (PRP) Systems served as the foundation for it, Global CBPR Forum is independently and separately run from the APEC.
The CBPR and PRP Systems were initially established within APEC to increase consumer, company, and regulatory trust in cross-border flows of personal information. Its primary purpose is to encourage increased cooperation between member economies to facilitate free global data flows by adopting common data protection and privacy approaches.
To formally transition operations from APEC to the Global CBPR Forum, the founding members will confer with accredited businesses in the APEC Systems and Accountability Agents. Before transition takes place, founding members will give Accountability Agents at least 30 days' notice.
On 17 August 2022, The Honorable Mark Dreyfus QC MP, the Attorney General of Australia, on behalf of the Australian government, issued a joint media release stating that Australia had become the latest member to join the Global CBPR Forum.
It cited the need to encourage interoperability and cooperation between the member economies to deal with some of the most pressing issues at hand when it comes to data privacy and protection.
Furthermore, the release stated that the Australian government was fully supportive of any developments that would lead to more reliable digital trade environments, strengthen consumer and business trust in digital transactions, and promote global trade by securing the safe and secure flow of data.
How Can Securiti Help
Governments and private businesses across the world are continuously evolving in their approach to data protection and privacy. A combination of pragmatic regulation and effective tools has allowed data to continue to be used safely and responsibly.
However, owing to the dynamic nature of data privacy and the need to adapt to changes required in data protection mechanisms, organizations would be well-advised to opt for automated solutions that ensure all the organization’s data-related obligations are met accordingly.
Securiti is a market leader in providing automated tools that aid an organization in meeting all its data compliance, privacy, and governance needs.
Its plethora of data privacy-related tools, such as data discovery, data cataloging, data classification in addition to, universal consent management, people data graphs, breach management, plus a lot more, ensure an organization can effectively tackle any of its data protection and privacy obligations.
Request a demo today and learn more about Securiti can help you achieve compliance with Australia’s Privacy Law of 2020 as well as all other major data regulations globally.
