System for data privacy to boost e-commerce trade

A STANDARD system for information privacy through online regional trade is being developed by the Electronic Commerce Steering Group’s data privacy subgroup.
Sub-group chairman Colin Minihan told The National that this and other regional privacy issues in e-commerce were discussion points for the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation subgroup meeting yesterday.
Minihan said the system would be a foundation for all scales of Apec economies to secure and enhance e-commerce trade in the region.
“The whole point of our work though is to encourage all economies to have the same minimum standards,” he said.
“Think of the privacy front as being a floor and not a ceiling.
“So encourage it to be the basis for work in the region and other economies can build upon that if they wish in their own domestic laws.
“Beyond that, once we have a basic minimum standard, we are encouraging data flows across borders and that’s where the trade element comes in.”
Minihan said consumers in Papua New Guinea would benefit from the overarching framework when purchasing online from overseas as their data would be secure.
He said the meeting was about looking at the work of Apec in relation to privacy “and the privacy framework that we have”.
“The framework has domestic and international implications,” Minihan said.