The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) held a special OECD workshop on May 6 aimed at advancing the mandated five-year review of the 2013 OECD Guidelines Governing the Protection of Privacy and Transborder Flows of Personal Data (the “Privacy Guidelines”). A Privacy Guidelines Expert Group (PGEG), which was established earlier this year to advise and provide input to the review, proposed exploring organizational accountability via this workshop as one of the key challenges in implementing the 2013 Privacy Guidelines.

Barbara Wanner, who leads USCIB’s work on ICT policy, attended the meetings along with several USCIB members from AT&T, Facebook, Google, Mastercard, and Microsoft.

“Business underscored the importance of assuming responsibility for the privacy of data through its life cycle by conducting rigorous and documented risk assessments and mitigation, ensuring transparency through both internal and external audits, continually monitoring and testing to prevent gaps, and generally going above and beyond what is required by law,” said Wanner.

USCIB members also took the lead in drafting a Business at OECD (BIAC) statement setting forth BIAC’s priorities for the OECD’s review of the 2013 Privacy Guidelines.

“This statement will inform BIAC interventions in Privacy Guidelines Review in the coming months and help to shape refinements to 2013 Privacy Guidelines that ensure its continued relevance as a global standard for privacy frameworks as the digital economy continues to evolve,” added Wanner.

The OECD also held its meetings of the Committee on Digital Economy Policy (CDEP) Working Party Security and Privacy in the Digital Economy (SPDE) from May 6-7. The Committee moved forward work focused on revising an OECD Recommendation on the Protection of Children Online, developing principles for access to and sharing of data, advancing the Global Forum for Digital Security for Prosperity, and adopting the draft Recommendation on Artificial Intelligence. The Working Parties on Communication Infrastructures and Services Policy (CISP) and Measurement and Analysis in the Digital Economy (MADE) met during this period as well. CISP agreed to undertake an ambitious review of the OECD’s 2004 Recommendation on Broadband Development.