Partners in Pacific Rim Online Privacy

Why is APEC important?
What is TRUSTe's role in APEC?

Learn more

What is APEC?

Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) is the forum for twenty one Pacific Rim member economies to cooperate on regional trade and investment issues. Created in 1989, APEC was designed to enhance economic growth and prosperity in the Pacific region. Members include China, Russia, Mexico, Australia, Indonesia and the US.

Why is APEC important?

Because it represents a massive market...
APEC member economies account for approximately 40% of the world's population, over half of world GDP and about 44% of world trade.

...with potentially massive online privacy issues.
Because data is the digital currency that fuels global economic growth, personally identifiable information is constantly at risk. That's why APEC created a Privacy Framework to guide member economies on data collection notice, collection limitation, and choice, among other privacy issues.

What is TRUSTe's role in APEC?

As APEC's Accountability Agent for the US and part of the forum's Privacy Subgroup and Electronic Commerce Steering Group, TRUSTe is helping conduct trials of cross-border certification of business' privacy practices and enforcement cooperation. These trials assess whether business' privacy policies fully incorporate the APEC Privacy Principles. Participating companies include Experian, Google, Hewlett-Packard, IBM, Microsoft, Oracle, and Proctor & Gamble. See the report submitted to the Department of Commerce.

We can provide guidance on this and other emerging guidelines in privacy. Questions? Read our blog post about APEC or contact a TRUSTe representative.

Back to top