US President Joe Biden is working to enhance the protection of personal data in the United States, a US official has told a global conference on privacy.

Deirdre Mulligan, deputy United States chief technology officer for policy told delegates to the 45th Global Privacy Assembly at the Hamilton Princess & Beach Club this week that the President’s efforts involved a wide range of initiatives.

She was among speakers who advocated for data privacy as a human right, taking well-understood and globally agreed upon thinking into the realm of computing.

A raft of speakers addressed the event as the world works to define rights and obligations when it comes to new information technology products and the role of governments in the process.

Ms Mulligan, also listed as professor, School of Information, and co-director, Berkeley Centre for Law & Technology, at Berkeley University, said: “Choices about technology and data are intimately and intricately bound up with human rights.”

She added: “The President has very actively been urging congress to pass bipartisan legislation to protect American privacy. He has also made it clear that we need to be able to hold platforms accountable when they fail to address the harms caused by the technology. This includes the content they spread, the algorithms they use.”

The conference was hosted in Bermuda as the island seeks to learn whether personal information was stolen from government computers in a massive hack a month ago.

One of the opening speakers, Vance Campbell, the Minister of Tourism and the Cabinet Office, said: “The road to privacy as an intrinsic part of business operations is a journey. This is certainly the case for Bermuda. A key part of this journey is ensuring a culture of privacy in the various spaces within our community.”