Global Data Privacy Laws 2015: Data Privacy Authorities and Their Organisations

Abstract

Most but not all of the 109 countries with data privacy laws have one or more enforcement and policy bodies with a specialised focus on data privacy – often called ‘data protection authorities’ (DPAs). There are now numerous associations and agreements linking these DPAs (and sometimes other non-specialist enforcement bodies).

In the last few years there has developed a divergence between DPA associations that are primarily policy-oriented, and those that focus on cooperation in enforcement of data privacy laws (called ‘privacy enforcement authorities’ or PEAs), though some are involved in both. These global and regional associations of DPAs and PEAs are of increasing significance.

This article analyses the growth of DPAs to January 2015, the extent to which they are engaged in associations of DPAs and PEAs, and those that are not. While there are many overlaps in these memberships, there are also surprising omissions This article follows one in the previous issue analysing the spread of data privacy laws to 109 countries by January 2015 http://ssrn.com/abstract=2603529, and accompanying Tables http://ssrn.com/abstract=2603502. The Tables document the existence and overlapping memberships of DPAs in the 109 countries.

Keywords: privacy, data protectiion, data protectoin authority, DPA, PEA, enforcement