The Office of the Data Protection Authority (ODPA) of the Bailiwick of Guernsey has been elected by its global counterparts to join the Executive Committee of the Global Privacy Assembly (GPA), the leading international network of privacy and data protection authorities. The election follows a vote by GPA members from around the world.
In its new position the ODPA will contribute to the leadership and strategic direction of the Assembly. The GPA Executive Committee plays a central role in guiding the Assembly’s work programme, strengthening international cooperation and ensuring that global responses to emerging privacy and data protection challenges are coordinated, effective and inclusive.
Guernsey’s election was supported by a submission highlighting the ODPA’s international leadership experience within the global privacy community. This included the ODPA’s role as co-chair and secretariat of the GPA’s International Enforcement Cooperation Working Group (IEWG), a results-oriented forum that brings together authorities worldwide to share expertise and coordinate enforcement action.
Recent actions include the coordination of the Joint Statement on AI Imagery and deepfakes, signed by 61 data protection authorities globally, confronting this growing privacy risk where harm to children is of particular concern.
The appointment will also benefit Guernsey and other smaller jurisdictions by ensuring that their perspectives and regulatory realities are well represented at the highest level of global privacy governance.
Commissioner Brent Homan welcomed the election:
“We are deeply humbled and appreciative by the confidence that our global counterparts have placed in Guernsey by electing us to the Executive Committee of the Global Privacy Assembly. This is both an honour and a responsibility. We are committed to contributing to the GPA’s work in promoting data rights across the globe” said Commissioner Homan.
“Equally, we look forward to representing the voice of smaller jurisdictions, including global financial hubs, along with their advantages, challenges and unique realities in defending data protection rights”.
Guernsey’s election to the GPA Executive Committee reinforces the Bailiwick’s reputation as a trusted and globally engaged, data-adequate jurisdiction. It also underscores the ODPA’s commitment to partnership, good governance and supporting enduring innovation that promotes societal and economic prosperity while upholding individual data rights.
“On behalf of the Executive Committee of the Global Privacy Assembly, we welcome the Office of the Data Protection Authority of the Bailiwick of Guernsey to the committee and look forward to working together to advance privacy globally,” said Commissioner Philippe Dufresne, Chair of the Global Privacy Assembly and Privacy Commissioner of Canada.
“The GPA connects the efforts of more than 130 data protection and privacy authorities worldwide, providing leadership and supporting collaboration at the international level to protect and promote privacy rights.”
The GPA first met in 1979 as the International Conference of Data Protection and Privacy Commissioners and has, for more than four decades, been the premier global forum for privacy and data protection authorities.