Global Tables of Data Privacy Laws and Bills (4rd Ed, January 2015)

Abstract

This is the fourth in a series of Tables (accompanied by articles) which have documented the increasing number of countries with data privacy laws. The initial assessment in mid-2011resulted in an unexpectedly high finding of 76 countries , expanding through new laws and further research to 89 by early 2012 http://ssrn.com/abstract=2000034, and then by mid-2013 to 99 http://ssrn.com/abstract=2305882. These January 2015 Tables show that number of countries which have now enacted data privacy laws has risen to 109 over the past eighteen months, and that 22 Bills for new Acts are known.

The accompanying articles analyse the Tables and other data: - 'Global data privacy laws 2015: 109 countries, with European laws now in a minority' (2015) 133 Privacy Laws & Business International Report, 14-17, available http://ssrn.com/abstract=2603529; and 'Global data privacy laws 2015: DPAs and their organisations' (2015) 134 Privacy Laws & Business International Report, 16-19.

Keywords: privacy, data protection, global table