Gran Canaria, Spain, December 14, 2022—Ministers of OECD countries responsible for digital economy policy today adopted a ground-breaking Declaration on Government Access to Personal Data Held by Private Entities. This action culminated two years of multilateral and multistakeholder discussions in the OECD Committee on Digital Economy Policy, which for the first time brought together privacy, national security and law enforcement officials.

The Declaration articulates principles that are common to OECD members with strong democratic traditions of respect for human rights and the rule of law. It offers clarity and transparency around these shared values, which, in turn, increases trust among governments. For businesses and internet users, the Declaration creates greater confidence in the sufficiency of protections that are guaranteed when individuals’ data is being transferred to a third country or accessed by a third country’s government.

This Declaration comes at a time when growing mistrust in data and data flows feeds uncertainty that has discouraged participation of individuals, businesses, and even governments in the global digital economy and undermined economic recovery efforts following the COVID-19 pandemic and global supply chain disruptions. As the G7 Trade Ministers Digital Trade Principles expressed last year, achieving this consensus among OECD member countries will now help provide greater transparency and legal certainty to cross-border data flows, and will support the transfer of data between jurisdictions by commercial entities and result in positive economic and social impacts.

USCIB members, working under the aegis of Business at OECD (BIAC) and in collaboration with the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), actively contributed evidence and recommendations to inform the TGA process, outlining principles and safeguards for government access to personal data that respect individual rights, promote shared democratic values, and are based on common practices.

“The TGA Principles establish a solid foundation for building trust in the digital ecosystem, similar to the OECD Privacy Guidelines,” said USCIB Vice President for ICT Policy Barbara Wanner, who was on the ground in Gran Canaria. “Excitement about the TGA Principles and the sense of achievement in the Ministerial plenary were palpable. By creating more confidence in data flows, the Principles ultimately will support USCIB members’ global commercial activities not to mention produce societal benefits for all,” she added.

See this link for further information about the OECD Digital Ministerial.

Business Contributions to the OECD CDEP process:

Joint Business Statement on the OECD Committee on Digital Economy Policy’s work to develop an instrument setting out high-level principles or policy guidance for trusted government access to personal data held by the private sector

ICC White Paper on Trusted Government Access to Personal Data Held by the Private SectorCenter for International Economic Collaboration

CFIEC Report on Forming Rules for Government Access: Toward Optimizing the International Flow of Personal and Non-Personal Data

CONTACT:
Barbara Wanner
VP, ICT Policy
bwanner@uscib.org

Kira Yevtukhova
Deputy Director, Communications and Marketing
kyevtukhova@uscib.org

ABOUT USCIB: USCIB promotes open markets, competitiveness and innovation, sustainable development, and corporate responsibility, supported by international engagement and regulatory coherence. Its members include U.S.-based global companies and professional services firms from every sector of our economy, with operations in every region of the world. USCIB is the U.S. affiliate of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), the International Organization of Employers (IOE) and Business at OECD (BIAC). More at www.uscib.org.