Notes from the IAPP Asia Managing Director, 7 July 2017

Last week, I was in Seoul, South Korea, speaking at two conferences about the IAPP and the role of the privacy officer, particularly in the light of GDPR requirements. I was welcomed by Yonsei University to its Asia Privacy Bridge Forum and by the CPO Forum for its annual Privacy Global Edge conference. There was a distinct international flavour to both conferences, with the Asia Privacy Bridge Forum’s theme being “Redressing Privacy Right Across Borders.”

Some of the concerns in Korea include internet addiction, cybersecurity, of course, and cross-border trade, as well as privacy in general. I met about 400 keen privacy professionals and students, and there was a good deal of interest in the IAPP and in GDPR. South Korea has just joined the APEC Cross Border Privacy Rules system, becoming the fifth economy to do so. The South Korean government hopes that the move will help South Korean companies to gain the trust of foreign consumers and companies whose data they process, improving their competitiveness overseas. So, while South Korea has a well-established privacy framework, the environment is changing as it and other Asian economies start to understand the impact of cross-border data flows on privacy. The Philippines, Singapore and Taiwan have also expressed interest in becoming members of the CBPR agreement.

If you haven’t been to Seoul, it’s a lovely city, easy to get around and the people very welcoming.

The big story from Australia this week was the revelation that Medicare cardholder data was for sale on the dark web. Commissioner Pilgrim commented that although people were more fearful of the risk of losing data on the internet, most breaches still occurred in the “offline” world and that data innovation needs strong security to be successful and reap the efficiency and accessibility benefits that data innovation brings.

You may recall how pleased I was that bicycles were enjoying a resurgence in China. Well, it seems bicycle-sharing is becoming increasingly popular, with riders doubling month by month to now 20 million monthly users. Advertisers are seeing the potential and are getting in on the act. The data collected from bike usage is being used to prompt riders to go into stores and buy things, using promotional virtual coupons that pop up on a rider’s smartphone. Fancy that. My favourite advert, though, was the use of Minion eyes on the handlebars to promote the movie "Despicable Me 3." Bananas!