Personal Information Protection Commission to Hold the 55th APPA Forum on the 16th

[Asia Economy Reporter Eunmo Koo] The Personal Information Protection Commission announced on the 15th that it will hold the 55th APPA Forum (Asia-Pacific Privacy Authorities Meeting), attended by 19 agencies from the Asia-Pacific region including the United States and Japan, online for three days from the 16th to the 18th.

APPA (Asia Pacific Privacy Authorities) is a consultative body of privacy authorities in the Asia-Pacific region established in 1992, with 19 agencies from 12 countries including Korea, the United States, Canada, Mexico, Peru, Colombia, Japan, Singapore, the Philippines, Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, and Macau as members.

The APPA Forum is held twice a year, in the first and second halves, where heads of privacy authorities from member countries attend to share privacy policies and trends by agency and discuss international privacy issues. This forum is the first international event hosted by the Personal Information Protection Commission since its launch as an integrated privacy supervision agency in August last year, expected to serve as a platform for communication and cooperation to promote domestic privacy policies globally and present new milestones in privacy policy.

The forum will begin with congratulatory remarks from Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum and a welcome speech by Yoon Jong-in, Chairperson of the Personal Information Protection Commission, followed by essential sessions sharing privacy policies and trends of each country, and thematic presentation sessions discussing international privacy concerns.

The essential sessions include ▲ regular reports from the Executive Committee ▲ activity reports from working groups ▲ country-specific trend reports ▲ reports on personal information breach notifications ▲ reports on international consultative body trends. The thematic presentation sessions will cover topics such as ▲ artificial intelligence ▲ digital identity ▲ new technologies and privacy policies including biometric information ▲ child privacy protection ▲ privacy issues in the post-COVID-19 new normal society ▲ digital economic development and privacy protection and utilization.

In particular, the session on digital economic development and privacy protection and utilization will feature key industry figures from Microsoft, Samsung Electronics, Naver, and others, sharing opinions on the regulatory environment in the digital economy era. Additionally, to enhance international interoperability in the field of privacy protection, the Korea Internet & Security Agency will introduce an international privacy protection and utilization index.

Yoon Jong-in, Chairperson of the Personal Information Protection Commission, stated, “At this forum, we will share experiences and cooperation measures among countries regarding privacy issues arising from the new normal era and digital transformation caused by COVID-19, reflect these in privacy policies, and strengthen solidarity and cooperation among APPA member agencies.”