In the ever-changing world of privacy and data protection, global diversity is proven every day by fascinating developments taking place in every corner of the planet. At the same time, a common pattern can be seen in many of those developments: their attempt to strike the right balance between the exploitation and the protection of the most valuable asset of our time. The most veteran jurisdiction in this area of law in Asia, Hong Kong, has just had a revamp of its 15-year-old Personal Data (Privacy) Ordinance, which toughens the existing regime. In South Korea, the Personal Information Protection Act has only been in force for a few months but is already being branded as the toughest in Asia. The rest of Asia is not standing still either as countries like Malaysia, Singapore and the Philippines are also making progress in this area. This particular issue is one that concerns global organizations seeking to adopt a coherent and consistent methodology for compliance in respect of data flows. The European approach to international data transfers is intimidating to say the least, so it is understandable that those organizations that are investing in programs that want to take advantage of that solution on a truly global scale.
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