Government officials have met Commonwealth leaders in London to establish how new international privacy laws will be implemented.

The Personal Information Protection Act comes into force at the beginning of next year. Vance Campbell, the Minister for the Cabinet Office, led the Bermuda delegation on the fact-finding mission to Whitehall.

In a statement in the House of Assembly today, Mr Campbell said it was “essential that we begin to strategise how Pipa will be recognised in other jurisdictions”.

He added: “We must also ensure that we understand and prepare for innovative developments, such as Artificial Intelligence [AI], and the role that Pipa will play in the ethical and responsible deployment of innovative technologies.

“I began the visit by meeting with the Commonwealth Secretariat to discuss policy and enforcement in relation to data protection, and Bermuda's preparedness for Pipa coming into force.

“Additionally, we discussed digitisation of government services and the blue economy. We also discussed initiatives that the Commonwealth Secretariat is facilitating around the world. Ideas and opportunities that may benefit Bermuda were discussed.

“The work of the Commonwealth Artificial Intelligence Consortium and their focus on ‘AI for Good’ may provide useful insights for Bermuda’s development in this area.”

Mr Campbell noted that different jurisdictions had different privacy regulations.

He told MPs: “Once Pipa is in force, Bermuda must develop its applications for the EU and the UK and determine how it will deal with other jurisdictions with which it does business regularly. In the meantime, contractual mechanisms will be the predominant method for the international transfer of personal information.

“This may result in Bermuda becoming a part of other initiatives, such as the Global Cross-Border Privacy Rules Forum.”

Mr Campbell said that the Pipa regulations were “another step in Bermuda’s protection of personal information and privacy journey”.

He said: “As of March 2023, approximately 162 countries had enacted privacy laws while a further 20 had privacy Bills in process.

“The international network of trust continues to expand to both support the effective protection and the flow of personal information internationally. We must prepare to become a part of and navigate through this developing privacy journey.

“I assure you that, even while we are implementing and strengthening our privacy regimes, we are also preparing for this next phase. Thus, we are actively considering Pipa’s role in ethical and responsible Artificial Intelligence.

“AI, we know, has the potential to provide many opportunities to improve efficiencies. However, we must ensure that we manage the risks to realise the benefits. We look forward to sharing more on this as we progress.”