The OECD Working Party on Security and Privacy in the Digital Economy (SPDE) develops public policy analysis and high level recommendations to help governments and other stakeholders ensure that digital security and privacy protection foster the development of the digital economy.

 

It gathers policy experts from OECD member and partner governments as well as business, civil society and the Internet technical community to share experience on better approaches to security and privacy in an open and globally interconnected environment. The SPDE reports to the Committee on Digital Economy Policy (CDEP) which itself reports to the OECD Council.

The SPDE:

• addresses information security and privacy as complementary issues that are essential for the sustainability of the Internet economy as a platform for economic and social prosperity.
• is a platform where policy makers monitor trends, share experience, and analyse the impact of technology on information security and privacy policy making.
• develops and monitors the implementation of several non-binding legal instruments (soft law) adopted by the OECD Council by consensus.
• maintains an active network of experts from government, business, civil society and the Internet technical community.

 

The work of the SPDE:

• serves as a foundation for developing national co-ordinated policies.
• is balanced and pragmatic, respects cultural, legal and social differences.
• benefits the broader international community through OECD’s co-operation with non-members and other international and regional organisations (such as Council of Europe and APEC).
• supports OECD’s core values.

 

The SPDE is supported by the OECD Secretariat within the Directorate for Science, Technology and Innovation. It meets twice a year in Paris and organises workshops and conferences.

 

SPDE delegates come from various government bodies with an interest in the economic and social aspects of information security and privacy. Non-governmental stakeholders participate actively in the dialogue through the Business and Industry Advisory Committee to the OECD (BIAC), the Civil Society Information Society Advisory Council (CSISAC) and the Internet Technical Advisory Committee (ITAC). The working party has also established relationships with other international and regional organisations such as Council of Europe, Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation (APEC TEL and APEC ECSG), ENISA, the International Conference of Data Protection and Privacy Commissioners, and the Global Privacy Enforcement Network (GPEN).  

 

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