The Personal Data Protection Service has been granted the observer status of the International Conference of Information Commissioners (ICIC)

2022-12-21 13:39:18
The Personal Data Protection Service has been granted the observer status of the International Conference of Information Commissioners (ICIC).

Authority with observer status is authorized to participate in the activities of the International Conference of Information Commissioners (ICIC), to attend the open and closed sessions of the Conference, as well as to engage in research and meetings conducted under its auspices.

The ICIC Executive Committee decides on granting the observer status based on the evaluation of the submitted information by the authority seeking the observer status. Based on the assessment of the main directions of the activities of the Personal Data Protection Service of Georgia, its vision and mission in the field of data protection, and international engagement, the process of granting the observer status to the Service was successfully completed.

"International Conference of Information Commissioners" is a global forum that unites the agencies supervising freedom and access to public information with a members status of the Conference, and grants the observers status of the Conference to affiliated agencies interested in the field. The purpose of the forum is to protect people’s right to public information, to share the best international practices in the field of access to information, and to promote international cooperation among the supervisory authorities.

In 2003, the "International Conference of Information Commissioners" took place in Berlin for the first time and is held annually thereafter. The members of the ICIC Executive Committee are: Albania – Information and Data Protection Commissioner; Bermuda – Office of the Information Commissioner; Chile – Chilean Transparency Council; Kenya – Commission on Administrative Justice, Office of the Ombudsman; Philippines – Freedom of Information, Program Management Office of the Philippine Information Agency (Host 2023); South Africa – Information Regulator; United States – The Office of Government Information Services.

The ICIC Chair and Secretariat is held by the National Institute for Transparency, Access to Information and Personal Data Protection of Mexico (INAI).

Across Europe, Supervisory bodies of up to 25 countries have the ICIC member status, among them are: the data protection authorities of Belgium, Croatia, Catalonia, Germany, Ireland, the UK, Spain, Switzerland.