ABLI-FPF Convergence Series - Balancing Organizational Accountability and Privacy Self-management in Asia-Pacific

ABLI-FPF Convergences Series - Balancing Organizational Accountability and Privacy Self-management in Asia-Pacific

Author: Dominic Paulger, Future of Privacy Forum (APAC)

Asian Business Law Institute and Future of Privacy Forum

November 2022

This report provides a detailed comparison of the requirements for processing personal data in 14 jurisdictions in the Asia-Pacific (APAC), including Australia, China, India, Indonesia, Hong Kong SAR, Japan, Macau SAR, Malaysia, New Zealand, the Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Thailand, and Vietnam.

Individual reports for these 14 jurisdictions are available in this collection. 

Table of contents

Why this Review?

Need for Convergence or Interoperability in a Period of Intensive Law Reform

Comparative Analysis of Data Protection Laws in Asia-Pacific

Legal Bases for Processing Personal Data 

Consent

Conditions for consent

Express and implied consent

Withdrawal of consent

Alternative legal basis to consent

• Necessity in an emergency or to protect the life or health of a person
• Necessity to comply with a legal obligation
• Necessity to enter into, or perform an obligation under, a contract with the data subject
• Statistics and/or research
• Necessity for public health and/or safety
• Processing authorized by law or regulation
• Exercise of official or legal authority or performing a task in public interest
• Investigating and/or preventing crimes or misconduct
• Necessity for legal proceedings and related purposes
• News reporting in the public interest
• Business transactions
• Publicly available information
• Establishing, exercising, or defending a legal right or claim
• Cooperating with government agencies
• Necessity for human resources management
• Protecting national security
• Locating missing persons
• Calculating service fees
• Business improvement purposes
• Necessity for “evaluative purposes”
• Necessity for recovery or payment of a debt
• Credit reporting
• Private trust or benefit plan
• Providing a service for personal or domestic purposes
• Document created in course of employment, business, or profession

Legitimate Interests

Recognition of a legitimate interest basis

Recognition of a legal basis that is broadly compatible with the legitimate interest basis

No equivalent to the legitimate interest basis

Collective Benefits of Legal Certainty and Convergence

Rebalancing Consent and Privacy Accountability in Asia-Pacific: A Roadmap

Review of efforts to rebalance notice and consent internationally

Recommendations

Summary of Recommendations

Consent

Realigning Consent Requirements in Asia-Pacific

Alternative legal basis to consent

Legitimate Interests

Recognition of the Legitimate Interests Basis Globally

Developing Legitimate Interests in Asia-Pacific

Endnotes