The Federal Data Protection Commissioner and Freedom of Information (BfDI), the professor Ulrich Kelber, was elected yesterday in the executive committee of the international conference of Data Protection Officers, the Global Privacy Assembly (GPA). Professor Kelber is happy about the confidence of its almost 140 international colleagues: in today’s networked world we need to find common solutions.
The elections give us the opportunity to bring our European positions and points of view. I will work to ensure that the AAP becomes an even more important voice in the global debate on data protection.
In line with this, participants in the 42nd meeting decided to publish joint statements on important global data protection issues outside the conference. In another resolution, the GPA calls for data protection-friendly solutions in relation to the Covid-19 pandemic, for example in contact monitoring. Together with Hong Kong, Colombia and the UK, the BfDI has initiated a resolution conditioning the use of artificial intelligence (AI).
When personal data is collected by an IAS system, this should be transparent and non-discriminatory, among other things. When in doubt, human beings should carry out further checks.
Professor Kelber is the first German Data Protection Officer to have been a member of the Executive Board since it was formally established. He was elected unanimously. Members are appointed for two years and may be re-elected once.