The Executive Committee of the Global Privacy Assembly (GPA) recognises the significant impact the COVID-19 pandemic has had on our lives and in our membership’s jurisdictions in the past few weeks.
We would like to thank our membership for contributing positively in this extraordinary time by supporting Authorities with their expertise and guidance, which can be found on our website.
Building on our collective efforts, the Executive Committee met earlier this week to discuss the ongoing work of the GPA, including this year’s conference.
After careful consideration of the unprecedented global circumstances we are experiencing in 2020, the Executive Committee has accepted the INAI Mexico’s decision to postpone this year’s conference in Mexico. This means the GPA’s annual conference will be held in Mexico in 2021.
The Office of the Privacy Commissioner of New Zealand has also agreed to postpone its planned hosting of the GPA until 2022. This means the host bid process for 2022 will be suspended. As for the 2023 conference, we will be launching the host bid process in due course.
But 2020 must not be a lost year for the GPA. We should continue shaping the future of our Assembly, working on our Policy Strategy objectives and learning from the fantastic work already completed by our Working Groups. In that respect, both our annual forum and our continued work throughout the year have never been more important.
That’s why we have tasked the GPA Secretariat to explore options on how to carry out the essential elements of our annual conference this year, including finding a suitable, secure digital platform where members and observers will be able to meet virtually. More information will be available in due couse.
We are disappointed that we won’t see you in Mexico this year, but we must make the health and wellbeing of our membership a priority.
– GPA Executive Committee