OECD Guidelines on the Protection of Privacy and Transborder Flows of Personal Data: Background

The OECD Guidelines on the Protection of Privacy and Transborder Flows of Personal Data, adopted on 23 September 1980, continue to represent international consensus on general guidance concerning the collection and management of personal information. By setting out core principles, the guidelines play a major role in assisting governments, business and consumer representatives in their efforts to protect privacy and personal data, and in obviating unnecessary restrictions to transborder data flows, both on and off line.

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Also available: Compendium of OECD privacy instruments

The reflection of 21 years of expertise and experience shared among representatives of OECD governments, business and industry, and civil society, the publication "Privacy Online: Guidance on Policy and Practice" brings together in one volume the instruments that serve as the foundation for privacy protection at the global level: the 1980 OECD Privacy Guidelines, the 1985 Declaration on Transborder Data Flows and the 1998 Ministerial Declaration on the Protection of Privacy on Global Networks.