The CNIL Worldwide
With the increased globalisation of data exchanges, data protection issues must be dealt with at an international level. European and international cooperation takes place in different forums.
The Global Privacy Assembly
The Global Privacy Assembly, previously known as the International Conference of Data Protection and Privacy Commissioners, has been a global forum for data protection and privacy authorities for more than four decades. It connects over 130 data protection and privacy authorities from across the globe. During the annual sessions, members exchange their views, share their good practices and adopt high level resolutions and recommendations addressed to governments and international organisations.
The OECD
Created in 1961, the OECD brings together 37 members worldwide, working towards better policies, including regarding data protection. The CNIL takes part in the working group on « data governance and privacy » of the OECD, acting as a representative for France and the Global Privacy Assembly.
The Council of Europe
A Convention for the Protection of Individuals with regard to Automatic Processing of Personal Data (Convention 108) has been adopted under the auspices of the Council of Europe. The CNIL contributes to the work of the Consultative Committee of the Convention 108 (T-PD) alongside the French representation.
Other regional networks
The CNIL closely follows the activities of the African network of data protection authorities (Réseau africain des autorités de protection des données personnelles), created in 2016, and of the Asian Pacific Privacy Authorities (APPA), created in 1992. These two networks allow data protection authorities to share best practices and cooperate at regional level.
Francophony
For over 10 years, the CNIL has been engaged in a data protection promotional campaign within francophone countries. These actions have led to the creation in 2007 of the Association francophone des autorités de protection des données personnelles (Association for Francophone Data Protection Authorities), which partners with the International Organisation of La Francophonie (OIF). Its success has also brought about the adoption of privacy rights legislation by countries within the francophone zone such as Burkina-Faso, Turkey, Morocco, Madagascar and Mali. As of 2020, 67 out of 88 member states of La Francophonie have adopted data protection laws, while 50 of them now have their own data protection authority.
CNIL Interventions
The CNIL occasionally participates in the activities of UN Special Rapporteur on the right to privacy and of the European parliament.
The CNIL also engages in various forums and conferences, such as in the Computer, Privacy and Data Protection international conference (CPDP) or the Rights Conference, as well as in the activities of the International Association of Privacy Professionals (IAPP), and the Center for European Policy Studies (CEPS) for example.
