International partnership brings benefits to Bailiwick

Bailiwick Data Protection Commissioner Brent Homan and Deputy Commissioner Rachel Masterton have represented Guernsey at the world’s largest gathering of data protection professionals in Washington DC.
 
Putting Guernsey firmly on the global stage, Commissioner Homan chaired a panel discussing international enforcement efforts to curb illegal data scraping at the IAPP Global Privacy Summit 2024.  

The expert panel of international regulatory and industry leaders discussed the impact of global action to combat the unlawful extraction of people’s personal data taking place online.

Guernsey is one of 14 regulators to have endorsed a joint statement on data scraping and data protection. It sets out expectations for how social media companies should protect the information people post on their platforms. 

“The success of the data scraping joint statement in reinforcing global safeguards against the unlawful harvesting of personal information was on full display during the panel discussion”, said Commissioner Homan. “The joint action demonstrates how the Bailiwick can make a global impact in protecting privacy rights by joining forces and speaking in a unified voice alongside international partners”. 

 
Ahead of the summit, the Guernsey Commissioners attended a full day of meetings with their international regulatory counterparts, discussing global developments in privacy with contributions from various bodies including representatives at the White House and the US Federal Trade Commission. 

Commissioner Homan also represented the Bailiwick at a meeting of international public and private sector leaders discussing strategies to promote accountability in the use of AI systems, a particular focus of ODPA activities. 

“This visit has been invaluable in gathering and sharing developments in privacy and data protection including the protection of children and their data, the future of financial privacy amidst rapid technological innovation and leveraging the Bailiwick’s recently confirmed EU adequacy status,” said Commissioner Homan. 

 
“The Bailiwick has much to share with the global community, as a leading global financial services hub where the ODPA strives to ensure the highest level of data protection standards and security safeguards.” 

The Commissioners also shared copies of the ODPA children’s book ‘Warro goes on an adventure’ with data protection partners and the story is now in the hands of education leaders in the White House and leaders from Germany, the UK, UAE, Jamaica, Japan, Korea, European Union and Canada.