OECD fails to reach consensus on government access to personal data

The OECD Committee on Digital Economy Policy (CDEP) held a special meeting on June 8 to consider a second update on the work of an informal drafting group on government access to personal data held by the private sector. The drafting group includes fifty-four representatives from twenty-three OECD member countries and the European Union. The proposal put forward by OECD asked CDEP members to consider two options. The first option would call for a broad commitment applicable to all types of government access for the purposes of law enforcement and national security, and includes seven draft principles as applicable to “obliged access” for the purposes of law enforcement and national security. The second option, supported by the European Union and several of its member states, would take place over a longer timeframe, aimed at giving the CDEP more time to develop draft principles with a broader scope to cover all methods of government access. Group members could not reach a consensus on this issue. As a result, the CDEP Secretariat proposed ‘pushing the pause button’ and reconsidering at the November 2021 CDEP meeting how the committee might continue in the future.