Global Tables of Data Privacy Laws and Bills (3rd Ed, June 2013)

Abstract

There are now 99 countries with data privacy laws as at mid-2013. A further 21 countries are known to have official Bills before their legislatures or under government consideration. These two tables, the Global Table of Countries with Data Privacy Laws and the Global Table of Official Data Privacy Bills, list the countries alphabetically, and for each provide: the name of the key Act or Bill; the dates of original and revised Acts; whether it covers the private sector, public sector or both; the international data protection agreements relevant to the country; whether the Act provides for a data protection authority (DPA) and its name; and the international DPA associations of which it is a member.

These tables are explained and analysed in the article ‘Sheherezade and the 101 Data Privacy Laws: Origins, Significance and Global Trajectories’ at http://ssrn.com/abstract=2280877.

Note – The data in the Tables and article are as at 1 June 2013. Since completion of the Tables, two more countries have enacted data privacy laws, Kazakhstan and South Africa. These are not included in the Table of laws, but are noted in the Postscript to the article (1 September 2013).

Keywords: privacy, data protection, data protection authority, DPA, adequacy, Convention 108, APEC