Commerce Announces U.S. Participation in APEC Data Privacy Rules System

Acting Commerce Secretary Rebecca Blank said the U.S. will participate in the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation’s (APEC) Cross Border Privacy Rules (CBPR) system. This voluntary system promotes a baseline set of data privacy practices for companies doing business in participating APEC economies. The goal of the system is to enhance electronic commerce, facilitate trade and economic growth, and strengthen consumer privacy protections across the Asia Pacific region, Commerce said.

The system is a self-regulatory initiative to enhance the protection of consumer data that moves between the U.S. and other APEC members through a voluntary but enforceable code of conduct implemented by participating businesses, the FTC said. President Obama and representatives from the other APEC economies endorsed the system in November 2011. On July 25, the U.S. was approved as the first formal participant in the system and the Federal Trade Commission as the system's first privacy enforcement authority.

Companies that wish to participate in the APEC privacy system will undergo a review and certification process by third parties that will examine corporate privacy policies and practices and enforce the new privacy rules, said the FTC. In addition, the FTC and privacy authorities in the APEC region that choose to participate in the program will serve as backstop enforcers of the APEC privacy rules.

Commerce press release available here.

FTC press release available here.

(See ITT’s Online Archives 11111602 for summary of the FTC’s reaction in November to approval of the system at an APEC meeting.)