Entries submitted
A1- Entry by: Turkish Personal Data Protection Authority
Description of the initiative:
Caricature, essay and slogan competitions have been held within the scope of the Personal Data Protection at Digital World activities. High school students participated in caricature and slogan competitions. Master or P.h.D. students participated in essay competition. The prize ceremony was organised on-line due to the Covid-19 Pandemics situation. These competitions attracted considerable attention of students and contributed to the public-awareness activities on personal data protection field.
Why the initiative deserves to be recognised by an award?
These competitions attracted considerable attention of students and contributed to the public-awareness activities on the data protection field. These competitions have big impact on understanding of the importance of data protection issue among people ranging from high school students to P.h.D. students.
A2 – Entry by: Turkish Personal Data Protection Authority – KVKK
Description of the initiative:
The personal data protection volunteer project is an effort to increase the awareness of personal data and privacy in the society through university students.
Why the initiative deserves to be recognised by an award?
Our country is a country that prides itself on having a young population and there are 8 million university students in our country. Considering the number of university students, it can be seen that training a university student as a personal data protection volunteer will create a great potential in the field of personal data in our country. In addition, considering that young people adapt very well to rapidly developing technology, it will be better understood why young people were chosen as the subject of the project. Since educating a university student also means educating the university student’s environment and family, awareness on this issue has been rapidly spread.
A3- Entry by: Turkish Personal Data Protection Authority – KVKK
Description of the initiative:
Raising personal data awareness to children in the younger age group through the character in a cartoon broadcast on the official state television in Turkey called “Data Crew”
Why the initiative deserves to be recognised by an award?
This project succeeded in explaining the most important issues of the digital age, personal data and privacy, to children, without boring them, moreover, by entertaining them. At the same time, it has shown that with a well-considered collaboration, an awareness study can be designed for each age group, suitable for that age group. In addition, it was not carried out only in the city where the authority is located, it was tried to ensure equality of opportunity in raising the awareness of children by going to various cities. This project was a huge effort that required money, time, energy, and sacrifice.
A4- Entry by: Information Commissioner’s Office (UK)
Description of the initiative:
The Children’s code (formally known as the Age Appropriate Design Code) is a code of practice that sets out how online services likely to be accessed by children (eg apps, online games, and social media) should protect them in the digital world.
To educate children about their data protection rights and how the Children’s code supports them, the ICO has created free resources for teachers to use in schools and to share with parents.
Why the initiative deserves to be recognised by an award?
The Children’s code is a world leading code to support children in the digital world.
The ICO’s education campaign ensures that children are aware of, and able to assert their data protection rights and that their parents and teachers are able to support them.
These resources enable schools, teachers and parents who may lack knowledge of data protection or lack confidence in their tech skills, to communicate effectively with children about their rights online.
With the rise of distance learning and home schooling as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, teachers and parents are busier than ever and children are spending increasing amounts of time online. The ICO’s school resources enable parents and teachers to quickly and easily discuss with children what their data is and how to ensure they keep it safe when using online services.
This is a new and innovative approach for the ICO, proactively working closely with schools, educators and parents to ensure children are receiving a high quality education about data protection and their rights online and create a generation of informed young people that are able to protect their personal data and make informed choices about using online services.
A5- Entry by: Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada
Description of the initiative:
As part of Data Privacy Week 2022, the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada unveiled its latest graphic novel for children between the ages of 9 and 11 years old. Social Smarts: Nothing Personal! covers topics such as data collection, targeted advertising, cybersecurity and online gaming. Copies of the graphic novel and its accompanying discussion guide are available free of charge in both English and French.
Why the initiative deserves to be recognised by an award?
In 2021, the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada co-sponsored a resolution on children’s digital rights at the Global Privacy Assembly. The publication of Social Smarts: Nothing Personal! corresponds with our office’s goal of empowering youth while protecting their privacy rights. This project builds on our office’s goal of promoting the international competency framework for school children and actively addresses competencies that were missing from Canadian curricula. This fun, engaging resource bridges the gap between our existing resources for students in grades 6 to 12.
The graphic novel was developed and published during the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic and was published on our website to help facilitate online learning.
Our graphic novel is extremely popular with teachers and community groups, as it provides a fun, engaging and accessible way to learn about privacy. We have also heard that English as a second language teachers find our office’s graphic novels to be helpful for newcomers to Canada.
A7- Entry by Austrian Data Protection Authority
Description of the initiative:
With the project “privacy4kids” we aim to raise awareness about privacy of children in the digital age. Together with the University of Vienna, the Austrian Data Protection Authority created short informational videos for children regarding various topics such as privacy threats in social media, internet fraud and children’s data protection rights.
Why the initiative deserves to be recognised by an award?
Nowadays, children are confronted with the internet and smartphones at an extreme early age and grow up with social networks like Instagram, Snapchat and TikTok as well as the use of instant messenger services like WhatsApp. Due to this nearly natural integration into their everyday life, children are usually not aware of the dangers that arise from the use of such platforms. They do not know what the abuse of their data can result in and what they can do to protect themselves.
This is why there are strong legal safeguards in place under the European Data Protection framework to protect children and their personal data. However, these measures have to be complimented by adequate information about possible risks and tools to mitigate them.
Since the GDPR took effect, there has been a boost of information materials concerning data protection and other privacy related issues. However, there is little information on the protection of children’s rights in the online context which targets children themselves and which provides information in an entertaining manner, attracting the attention of children and encouraging them to actually read (or in case of videos, watch) such information. To fill this gap, the project “privacy4kids” was created.
The informational videos and papers are in German. Based on the statistics, there are roughly 1.5 million children living in Austria and roughly 11.3 million children living in Germany. Therefore, the videos and information can be spread to potentially 12.8 million children.
Please note that we have the intention to expand the information and the available languages.
A8- Entry by Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC)
Description of the initiative:
The Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) publishes statistics bi-annually about data breaches reported under the Notifiable Data Breaches (NDB) scheme to assist entities and the public to understand privacy risks identified through the scheme. The provision of clear information on data breach causes supports entities to assess and improve their security postures to minimise this risk. The reports are highly anticipated by industry, garner significant media coverage and are a sought-after presentation topic.
Why the initiative deserves to be recognised by an award?
The OAIC’s NDB reports and supporting communication activities are key to the scheme achieving its central objective, which is to protect individuals. The reports help entities and the public understand privacy risks identified through the scheme and enable the OAIC to communicate trends and emerging risks (without publicising the details of specific incidents). Generally, the OAIC is seeing entities engage with the scheme and take steps to remedy breaches and mitigate harm to individuals.
Below are some metrics that demonstrate the high level of interest and engagement with the reports:
- NDB reports garner broad and sustained media coverage. Between 1 January and 8 June 2022, more than 290 articles referenced the NDB scheme and the OAIC – 249 of these articles included data from NDB reports.
- The OAIC’s notifiable data breaches statistics webpage attracted 5,925 visits and the July to December 2021 report 7,033 visits between 1 January and 8 June 2022.
- The OAIC has given 4 NDB presentations in the 2020–21 financial year and featured NDB issues as part of many other speaking engagements.
The social media campaign for the July to December 2021 report received over 32,000 impressions.
A9- Entry by Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC)
Description of the initiative:
The Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) led the Australia-wide campaign for Privacy Awareness Week (PAW) 2022. Our campaign highlighted privacy as the foundation of trust and attracted a record 653 government and private sector supporters. The OAIC developed dynamic PAW 2022 branding, a dedicated website, a comprehensive supporter toolkit and privacy tips for individuals, businesses and government agencies. OAIC speakers took part in 12 events with a combined audience of over 2,000 people.
Why the initiative deserves to be recognised by an award?
The OAIC executed a successful campaign that achieved our objectives. Among the measures of success, we:
- achieved the highest number of supporters to date – 653 government agencies and private sector organisations signed up, up 4% from 2021 and 77% from 5 years ago
- took part in 12 events with a combined audience of 2,000 people – this includes over 540 people watching the OAIC’s virtual launch live or on-demand
- achieved a total social media reach over 42,000 through OAIC channels – posts by PAW supporters extend the campaign’s reach by hundreds of thousands.
The OAIC conducted a supporter survey post-campaign. All respondents said they will sign up to support PAW 2023 and the majority ranked the website and supporter toolkit as ‘very useful’.
Among the feedback: ‘I just wanted to say that I think PAW is a really valuable opportunity for organisations to really engage with workers and draw attention to areas of privacy that relate to their workplace, as well as to them as individuals. Webinars offered by OAIC and others during PAW week are an amazing opportunity for me as a Privacy Officer to increase my knowledge and understanding of some of the intricacies also. Keep up the great work!’
A10- Entry by Data Protection Commission (Ireland).
Description of the initiative:
In December 2021, the DPC published the final version of its comprehensive guidance on children’s data protection rights (‘the Fundamentals’) following a public consultation to give stakeholders an opportunity to review and make submissions on the draft version.
The DPC also published a report on this consultation and the submissions it received in November 2021.
Finally, the DPC published a series of guidance materials on data protection for children aged 13-18 in May 2022.
Why the initiative deserves to be recognised by an award?
The DPC has produced comprehensive guidance for organisations on the processing of children’s data and the rights of children as data subjects. The Fundamentals have immediate application and now form the basis of the DPC’s approach to supervision, regulation and enforcement in the area of processing of children’s personal data. The Fundamentals are a significant contribution to public awareness and international best practice on providing the specific protection that children merit under the GDPR. This initiative also reflects the DPC’s commitment to prioritising the protection of children and other vulnerable groups as part of its 2022-2027 Regulatory Strategy.
This initiative also demonstrates the DPC’s commitment to providing children and young people with the knowledge and tools that they need to help keep their data safe in the digital environment, as demonstrated by our recently-published guidance for children aged 13 and over. The DPC consulted with child’s rights experts in the drafting of these materials to ensure the language and format was appropriate for children, and we also gave these materials a strong social media focus to ensure that they would resonate with children and reflect their day-to-day experience of data protection issues.
A11- Entry by Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario (IPC).
Description of the initiative:
The Info Matters podcast dives into conversations with people from all walks of life about
the access and privacy issues that matter most to them. Hosted by Ontario’s Information
and Privacy Commissioner, Info Matters invites special guests to share their perspectives,
stories, and facts in an accessible way that helps listeners understand real-world issues in
access and privacy. Info Matters builds on our office’s strong legacy of public outreach
and education, providing useful information in a freely available and easy to understand
format.
Why the initiative deserves to be recognised by an award?
Info Matters has helped put the IPC on the map as a modern and accessible regulator and
raise awareness of the everyday relevance of privacy protection to a broader audience.
With 4,700 downloads (as of June 14, 2022), the podcast has reinforced the IPC’s
reputation as an expert source of information and recognized leader in access and privacy
education and guidance. Moreover, this mode of communication has helped us overcome
geographical barriers to extend the IPC’s reach, opening the door to fascinating
conversations with Ontarians from all parts of the province.
Info Matters has also inspired offices in other jurisdictions to launch similar podcasts of
their own, a testament to the podcast’s pioneering success in supporting our stakeholders
in a convenient, accessible, and innovative way.
A12- Entry by Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario (IPC).
Description of the initiative:
Privacy Pursuit! Games and Activities for Kids is a fun activity book for kids designed to help young children learn about online privacy. It features games like word searches, crossword puzzles, and cryptograms. With easy-to-understand tips, kids learn how to identify scams, protect their privacy, and stay safe online. Thought-provoking questions also guide kids through a process of self-discovery, encouraging them to reflect on what
privacy means to them and how to respect the privacy of others through empathy.
Why the initiative deserves to be recognised by an award?
During the pandemic, children’ use of the Internet and social media networks has increased. Helping kids understand the privacy risks of the technologies they use has, therefore, never been more important.
Privacy Pursuit! Games and Activities for Kids does just that. It teaches kids how to build the digital literacy skills they need to navigate the tricky terrain of today’s online world and protect their privacy. Although going online can have many benefits for our children, it also comes with some privacy risks. This fun resource introduces young people, and the adults in their lives, to these risks and encourages them to assert their privacy rights through thought-provoking games and activities. Ultimately, Privacy Pursuit! equips kids with the skills they need to enjoy online activities safely and help support their growth and development as good digital citizens.
A13- Entry by The Danish Data Protection Agency
Description of the initiative:
A fun online learning game for children about their rights under data protection law – available for free on the Danish DPA website.
Why the initiative deserves to be recognised by an award?
The GDPR stresses that DPAs should make a special effort to address children and help them understand their rights. This initiative aims to do this in a way that’s fun for the children and at the same time easy for teachers to incorporate in their lessons.
A14- Entry by Information and Data Protection Commissioner of Albania (IDP)
Description of the initiative:
The Information and Data Protection Commissioner’s Office prepared a questionnaire addressed to Public Authorities on assessing the level of awareness of public sector’s employees about the right to the protection of personal data in the Republic of Albania.
Based on the results obtained therefrom, the Commissioner’s Office received clear information regarding the level of knowledge by public sector officials about the obligations in the field of personal data protection, and identified the most important issues, the needs for professional development and further training of the employees of these institutions.
Why the initiative deserves to be recognised by an award?
Over the last years, the Information and Data Protection Commissioner’s Office has set among its key priorities the awareness-raising activities with particular focus on the public sector in Albania. The initiative we introduce today is aimed at triggering an inclusive and sustainable campaign of awareness-raising in this sector, with the main objective consisting in fostering a culture of accountability and responsibility.