The Fair Information Practice Principles, or FIPPs, are a set of principles for data privacy that many organizations follow today.
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The Fair Information Practices, also known as the Fair Information Practice Principles (FIPPs), are a set of eight principles regarding data usage, collection, and privacy. They were published in 1980 by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and a number of countries agreed upon them in principle.
Although not officially part of any privacy legislation, these principles continue to be relevant and influential today. Many organizations use them as guidance for how to handle personal data. Several of the principles listed in the FIPPs are included in important privacy frameworks like the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA).
The eight Fair Information Practice Principles are:
The FIPPs as they currently appear are based on recommendations proposed by an advisory committee to the US Department of Health, Education, and Welfare in 1973. The committee's report noted that "Safeguards for personal privacy based on our concept of mutuality in record-keeping would require adherence by record-keeping organizations to certain fundamental principles of fair information practice." It then went on to describe several principles for data protection.
In 1980 the OECD expanded those recommendations and divided them into the eight FIPPs listed above. Since then, the FIPPs have been referenced many times, especially in the US. They continue to form an important part of data privacy and data protection guidelines.
The FIPPs are not part of any official or legal requirements. However, they have been the basis for several different privacy guidelines. They also reflect many widely accepted privacy principles appearing in other official privacy frameworks.
For instance, the Individual Participation principle (No. 7) lists a number of rights that people should have. The CCPA codified some of these into law: it includes a "right to know," much like what is described in parts a) and b) of the Individual Participation principle. The GDPR also includes a "right to erasure," similar to the ability to "have data erased" as described by part d) of the Individual Participation principle.
As another example, the FIPPs Data Quality principle has a counterpart in the GDPR: Article 5 requires that personal data be "accurate and, where necessary, kept up to date; every reasonable step must be taken to ensure that personal data that are inaccurate, having regard to the purposes for which they are processed, are erased or rectified without delay."
It is important to note that these privacy frameworks do not exactly match the FIPPs in their descriptions and requirements. Organizations that want to comply with the GDPR, the CCPA, or any other privacy legislation need to make sure they follow the requirements of those specific pieces of legislation, not just the FIPPs.
All Cloudflare employees are required to take data protection training that introduces them to the Fair Information Practices, in addition to the GDPR and other important data protection laws. Also, Cloudflare has released a number of products (some of which are free) to enhance user privacy. These products include:
To learn more about Cloudflare's commitment to data privacy, read the latest updates on the Cloudflare blog.