International Data Flows and Privacy : The Conflict and its Resolution

Mattoo, Aaditya ; Meltzer, Joshua P.

World Bank, Washington, DC

关键词: PRIVACY;    DATA PROTECTION;    GLOBALIZATION;    TRADE;    WTO;   

DOI  :  10.1596/1813-9450-8431
RP-ID  :  WPS8431

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: World Bank Open Knowledge Repository

【 摘 要 】

The free flow of data across bordersunderpins today's globalized economy. But the flow ofpersonal data outside the jurisdiction of nationalregulators also raises concerns about the protection ofprivacy. Addressing these legitimate concerns withoutundermining international integration is a challenge. Thispaper describes and assesses three types of responses tothis challenge: unilateral development of national orregional regulation, such as the European Union's DataProtection Directive and forthcoming General Data ProtectionRegulation; international negotiation of trade disciplines,most recently in the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreementfor Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP); and internationalcooperation involving regulators, most significantly in theEU-U.S. Privacy Shield Agreement. The paper argues thatunilateral restrictions on data flows are costly and canhurt exports, especially of data-processing and otherdata-based services; international trade rules that limitonly the importers' freedom to regulate cannot addressthe challenge posed by privacy; and regulatory cooperationthat aims at harmonization and mutual recognition is notlikely to succeed, given the desirable divergence innational privacy regulation. The way forward is to designtrade rules (as the CPTPP seeks to do) that reflect thebargain central to successful international cooperation (asin the EU-US Privacy Shield): regulators in data destinationcountries would assume legal obligations to protect theprivacy of foreign citizens in return for obligations ondata source countries not to restrict the flow of data.Existing multilateral rules can help ensure that any sucharrangements do not discriminate against and are open toparticipation by other countries.