Introduction

Consumers’ trust and how well individual privacy needs are met are defining concerns for the digital economy. This includes how consumers' personally identifiable information (PII) and other data are processed (collected, used, accessed, stored, and deleted) — or intentionally not collected or processed — by the organization and by the digital goods and services within that digital economy. If PII has been compromised because of lax, outdated, or non-existent privacy practices, the consequences for the individual can be severe. In addition, consumers' trust of the digital product can be damaged with potentially legal or reputational impacts to the organization providing that consumer product.

“Privacy by Design” was originally used by the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario, Canada. with the goal that the individual need not bear the burden of striving for protection when using a consumer product.

Privacy by design refers to several methodologies for product, process, system, software and service development, e.g. References [1], [2], [3], [4], [5] and [6]. These methodologies take into account the privacy of a consumer throughout the design and development of a product, considering the entire product lifecycle - from before it is placed on the market, through purchase and use by consumers, to the expected time when all instances of that product finally stop being used. It means that a product has default consumer-oriented privacy controls and settings that provide appropriate levels of privacy, without placing undue burden on the consumer.

NOTE This document provides references in the bibliography to other existing standards and resources, that provide more detailed requirements and guidance on privacy (e.g. identification of PII, PII access and privacy controls, consumer consent, notification of privacy breach, secure disposal of PII, interactions with third party processors) for common functions within the organization (e.g. Corporate Governance; Data and Privacy Governance; IT Operations and IT Services Management; Security and Security Management; Data Management and Database Administration; Marketing, Product Management; Web and mobile application development, systems development; Systems administration, network administration).

In this document, the benefits of privacy by design can be viewed through three guiding principles as outlined below.

Empowerment and transparency

There is growing demand for accurate privacy assertions, systematic methods of privacy due diligence, and greater transparency and accountability in the design and operation of consumer products that process PII. The goal is to promote wider adoption of privacy-aware design, earn consumer trust and satisfy consumer needs for robust privacy and data protection. In addition, the intent is to create and promote innovative solutions that protect and manage consumers' privacy: a) by analysing and implementing privacy controls based on the consumer’s perspective, context, and needs, and b) by succinctly documenting and communicating directly to consumers how privacy considerations were approached.

Institutionalization and responsibility

In today’s digital world of shared platforms, interconnected devices, cloud applications and personalization, it is increasingly important to delineate and distinguish the responsibilities and perspectives of the consumer of the products that process PII from those of product design, business and other stakeholders in the ecosystems in which the product operates.

Privacy by design focuses on the consumer perspective when institutionalizing robust privacy norms throughout the ecosystem including privacy protection and data handling practices. With privacy by design, the consumer’s behavioural engagement with the product(s) and their privacy needs are considered early and throughout the product lifecycle process. This way, decisions concerning consumer privacy needs will be more consistent and systematic and become a functional requirement alongside the interests of product design, business and other stakeholders.

Privacy by design also focuses on accountability, responsibility, and leadership. These aspects are essential to successfully operationalizing and institutionalizing the privacy by design process. A demonstrated leadership commitment to privacy by design is essential to operationalize and institutionalize privacy in the product design process of an organization.

Ecosystem and lifecycle

A privacy by design approach can be applied to the broader information ecosystems in which both technologies and organizations operate and function. Privacy and consumer protection beneﬁt from taking a holistic, integrative approach that considers as many contextual factors as possible (e.g. the type of consumer, their goal and intent in using a product, and the data the product will process for that consumer) – even (or especially) when these factors lie outside the direct control of any particular actor, organization, or component in the system. [see 5.5.3 a)].

Privacy by design applies to all products that use PII, whether physical goods, or intangible services such as software as a service, or a mixture of both. It is intended to be scalable to the needs of all types of organizations in different countries and different sectors, regardless of organization size or maturity.

It is possible that additional privacy issues and a need for related controls are identified at any point in the product lifecycle, including during development or after use by consumers. Privacy by design methodologies support iterative approaches to product development, with supplementary privacy enhancements designed and deployed long after the initial design phase.

Audience for this document

The primary audiences for this document are those staff of organizations and third parties, who are responsible for the concept, design, manufacturing, management, testing, operation, service, maintenance and disposal of consumer goods and services.

BS ISO 31700-1:2023

Consumer protection. Privacy by design for consumer goods and services - High-level requirements

Current

Published:

31 Jan 2023