The Internet Society works at the intersection of technology and policy supporting privacy standards (legal and technical) that are openly developed, transparent, globally-interoperable and user-centric.

Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)

We contribute to the OECD's work on privacy and data protection through the Internet Technical Advisory Committee (ITAC) coordinated by the Internet Society. The OECD is presently undertaking a review of the OECD Guidelines on the Protection of Privacy and Transborder Flows of Personal Data.

In 2010, the Internet Society (representing ITAC) also participated in the panel on Fostering Innovation in Privacy Protection at the OECD Conference on The Evolving Role of the Individual in Privacy Protection: 30 Years after the OECD Privacy Guidelines.

Please read ITAC's speaking points

Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC)

The Internet Society participates in APEC's work on privacy in the APEC ESCG Data Privacy Sub-Group (DPS) as an invited guest in the APEC Electronic Commerce Steering Group (ECSG).

In 2011, APEC approved the APEC Cross Border Privacy Rules (CBPR), a voluntary system to enable accountable cross-border personal data flows among participating APEC economies, developed by the DPS.

Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF), Internet Architecture Board (IAB) and the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C)

Internet Society staff participate in the:

• IETF Privacy Directorate (created to develop the concept of privacy considerations for IETF specifications and to review internet-drafts for privacy considerations)
• IAB Privacy Program (a forum to develop and synthesize privacy thinking within the technical standards community)
• W3C Privacy Interest Group (as co-chair) (a forum to monitor ongoing privacy issues that affect the Web, investigate potential areas for new privacy work, and provide guidelines and advice for addressing privacy in standards development)

Global surveys on Internet Privacy

In response to an Internet Society survey in May 2010, Internet Society members from around the world provided information about emerging privacy challenges in their local region and suggestions to address those challenges.

Please read our report.

Online Identity and Privacy

The Internet Society has developed a series of papers providing an overview of online identity, focused on user-managed identity. The papers include discussions of privacy and some general guidelines on protecting your identity online.

• Understanding your Online Identity: An Overview of Identity
• Understanding your Online Identity: Protecting your Privacy
• Understanding your Online Identity: Learning to Protect your Online Identity

Kantara Initiative Privacy & Public Policy Work Group (P3WG)

The Internet Society participates in the Kantara Initiative's Privacy and Public Policy Work Group (P3WG). As a member of P3WG, the Internet Society is participating in the creation of a Privacy Framework that can work in tandem with the Identity Assusrance Framework as part of the Kantara Trust Framework that serves as a mechanism to increase trust within federated identity systems.

Internet technical workshops and symposia

In December 2010, the Internet Society participated in and jointly sponsored an Internet Privacy Workshop together with the Internet Architecture Board (IAB), Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). This workshop examined the approaches taken by developers of Internet technologies and explored paths for developing privacy-improving Internet technologies in a multistakeholder, consensus-driven environment. An outcome of that meeting was the creation of the IAB Privacy Directorate.

In May 2011, we co-chaired a W3C Workshop on Identity in the Browser to discuss how to modify the Web-browsing experience to effectively manage, access and share online identity and related personal data in a secure, privacy-respecting manner.

We are also very pleased to have been part of the program committee for the W3C Workshop on Web Tracking and User Privacy held in April 2011. An outcome of this workshop was the creation of the W3C Tracking Protection Working Group which seeks to standardize the technology and meaning of Do Not Track and Tracking Selection Lists.

In October 2011, the Internet Society participated in a Privacy Standards Experts Roundtable organised by the Organization for the Advancement of Structured Information Standards (OASIS).

Internet governance workshops and discussions

The Internet Society and the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) co-organised a multi-stakeholder workshop at the 2010 Internet Governance Forum (IGF) on The Future of Privacy.

At the 2011 IGF, the Internet Society participated in the panel for the main session on Security, Openness and Privacy. Please read the Internet Society's opening statement.