Boost to participation in APEC Cross-border Privacy Enforcement Arrangement
Building upon the mechanism launched last year for regional cooperation on data privacy law enforcement, APEC announced that an additional 15 authorities from Japan have joined the APEC Cross-border Privacy Enforcement Arrangement (CPEA).
The CPEA facilitates information sharing and cooperation between public authorities responsible for enforcing data privacy laws in the APEC region. By providing a mechanism to help investigate and enforce privacy laws across borders, the CPEA seeks to promote consumer trust in e-commerce, which will benefit business and trade in the Asia Pacific. It is a key step in APEC’s long standing efforts to increase e-commerce and cross-border trade in the region.
The Consumer Affairs Agency of Japan, one of the new authorities in CPEA, stated that “We are delighted to have become a member of the APEC Cross-Border Enforcement Arrangement, since we believe that the Arrangement is a valuable instrument for the protection of personal information in the region. This could also help create an environment conducive to the development of the electronic commerce. We are determined to work together with the member economies to farther promote this undertaking.”
Ms. Danièle Chatelois, Chair of the Data Privacy Subgroup of APEC’s Electronic Commerce Steering Group (ECSG), welcomed this development. “The participation of privacy law enforcement authorities from Japan further strengthens APEC’s cooperation arrangements to the benefit of consumers across the region,” she said.
The arrangement provides a process under which participating authorities may contact each other for help with collecting evidence, sharing information on an organisation or matter being investigated, enforcing actions, and transferring complaints to another jurisdiction. The 15 Japanese authorities join five existing participant authorities from Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, New Zealand and the USA.
The authorities from Japan that have been formally accepted as CPEA participants are: the Cabinet Office; Consumer Affairs Agency; Financial Services Agency; Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries; Ministry of Defence; Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry; Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology; Ministry of Environment; Ministry of Finance; Ministry of Foreign Affairs; Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare; Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications; Ministry of Justice; Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism; and the National Police Agency.
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For more information, contact: Augustine Kwan +65 9831 0717 at [email protected] or Michael Chapnick at [email protected] or (+65) 9647 4847.