About

Asia Pacific Privacy Authorities (APPA), formed in 1992, is the principal forum for privacy and data protection authorities in the Asia Pacific region to form partnerships and exchange ideas about privacy regulation, new technologies and the management of privacy enquiries and complaints.

APPA members convene twice a year, discussing permanent agenda items like jurisdictional reports from each delegation and an initiative-sharing roundtable. At each forum, members discuss and focus on different topical issues. In the past, these have included cross-border privacy rules, children’s online privacy, employee surveillance, artificial intelligence, and privacy-enhancing technologies.

Eligibility

Privacy and data protection authorities based in the Asia Pacific region are eligible for APPA membership if they meet one of the three below criteria.

They are:

  • an accredited member of the Global Privacy Assembly (GPA); or
  • a participant in the APEC Cross-border Privacy Enforcement Arrangement (CPEA); or
  • a member of the Global Privacy Enforcement Network (GPEN).

If your authority would like to join APPA, please contact the APPA secretariat.

APPA Statement of Objectives

During the 39th APPA Forum in Auckland, APPA members established a Statement of Objectives.

APPA Technology Working Group

The Technology Working Group (TWG) is made up of a number of APPA members who have a particular interest in technology and privacy. The TWG collaborates on and explores common technology related issues experienced by members and reports on its findings during the bi-annual forums.

APPA funding arrangement

For details on APPA’s funding arrangement, click here.

Policy on APPA sessions and attendees

At the 46th APPA Forum members adopted a proposal to introduce a members-only session into the APPA Forums, and instructed the Secretariat to prepare a policy setting out the types of sessions at APPA Forums and to circulate that policy to APPA members. Click here for the policy.

APPA Communications Working Group

The Communications Working Group (CWG) is made up of communications professionals from across APPA. The CWG consults on communication related matters, this includes developing the theme for PAW and collaborating on PAW activities.

APPA Comparative Privacy Statistics Working Group

The Comparative Privacy Statistics Working Group (CPSWG) focuses upon the effective use of statistics to achieve APPA’s aims of sharing knowledge and continuously improving regulatory performance. The CPSWG has developed common core questions for community attitude surveys and regional benchmarks for privacy awareness.

Use of APPA logo

APPA members are encouraged to use the APPA logo on their authority’s website to identify the authority as an APPA member and to promote awareness of the APPA forum. If you are considering using the APPA logo, please refer to the Use of APPA Logo policy. This policy outlines how the APPA logo may be used.

APPA logo

APPA logo JPG version (12 KB)APPA logo PNG version (74 KB)

APPA Secondment Framework

Secondments offer an excellent opportunity to foster collaboration between APPA members and promote best practice in the field of privacy and data protection. They can also help to improve the performance of individual staff members and of the privacy authorities they work for.

For this reason, APPA has adopted the APPA Secondment Framework. This framework provides advice on how to set up a successful secondment.