Watching the Watchers: Transgovernmental Implementation of Data Privacy Policy in Europe

Abstract

The governance of data privacy in Europe increasingly transpires through networks of transgovernmental actors – data privacy authorities. While research has demonstrated how such networks shape the policy agenda, little work has examined issues of implementation. This article, thus, explores the growing role that pan-European networks of data privacy authorities play in the enforcement of regional privacy rules. It first surveys the different networks and their participants before identifying their implementation efforts – information sharing, standards harmonization, and joint enforcement. The article notes how such regional enforcement co-operation has itself become a political leverage point for data privacy authorities seeking to expand their authority. In comparing across networks and their functions, the article isolates a regional dimension to privacy implementation and more generally suggests a novel form of networked governance within Europe.

Notes

1. For an exemplary description of the various governance tools available see Bennett and Raab (2006).

2. See Central and Eastern European Personal Data Protection Commissioners, Final Declaration, Warsaw, December 17, 2001. For information on the group see http://www.cecprivacy.org

3. The power of the Group's opinions over business behavior was echoed by numerous European trade associations representing the telecommunications, banking, and direct marketing industries. Interviews were conducted in 2003.

4. For a comprehensive study of enforcement powers across country, see OECD (2006).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Abraham L. Newman

Abraham L. Newman is an assistant professor in the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University. His research focuses on international political economy with an emphasis on global regulatory issues. He is the author of Protectors of Privacy: Regulating Personal Information in the Global Economy (Cornell University Press, 2008) and co-editor of How Revolutionary was the Digital Revolution? National Responses, Market Transitions, and Global Technology (Stanford University Press, 2006).