On November 1, 2014, the Global Privacy Enforcement Network (“GPEN”) posted a media release on their workshop held on October 12, 2014, in Mauritius on the use of publicity as a regulatory compliance technique. The workshop, attended by 44 commissioners and staff from around the world, focused on different issues concerning privacy enforcement, including the effectiveness of monetary penalties in enforcing data protection laws and the diverse approaches to enforcement publicity. In addition, there was a public demonstration of the recently expanded World Legal Information Institute’s International Privacy Law Library, which is said to be the largest freely accessible and searchable database of privacy law materials in the world.
GPEN is a network of approximately 50 privacy enforcement authorities from around the world. The network’s U.S. members include the Federal Trade Commission and the Federal Communications Commission. GPEN’s mission is to connect “privacy enforcement authorities from around the world to promote and support cooperation in cross-border enforcement of laws protecting privacy.” GPEN’s past activities have included coordinated international enforcement sweeps concerning such issues as mobile app privacy and privacy notices posted by major websites.