The 65th APPA Forum, hosted by the Office of the Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data, Hong Kong

The Office of the Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data (PCPD), Hong Kong, China hosted the 65th Asia Pacific Privacy Authorities (APPA) Forum on 16 and 17 June 2026 in Hong Kong, with both in-person and virtual attendance.

The Forum was attended by 16 APPA members comprising around 100 delegates across the Asia Pacific Region. Several observers and invited guests from around the globe were also in attendance, including privacy or data protection authorities, international privacy networks, together with invited guests from think-tanks, research and development centres, industry and academia.

During the two-day Forum, APPA members, observers and invited guests shared and discussed a wide array of topical privacy issues, regulatory experiences and developments and enforcement challenges, particularly those arising from the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and other emerging technologies.

The discussions across the Forum focused on several major themes:

legislative developments;
enforcement challenges;
data breaches;
the governance of AI, including agentic AI, and other emerging technologies; and
children’s privacy.

The two-day Forum was divided into the three sessions: members-only session, closed session for members and observers, as well as broader session for members, observers and invited guests.

Day One

On Day One, the 65th APPA Forum was opened by Commissioner Ada Chung of PCPD Hong Kong, China, who welcomed APPA members to Hong Kong. The opening formalities, which included a congratulatory message from Mr Clement Woo Kin-man, the Under Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs, Hong Kong, China, were concluded with the approval of the 64th APPA Forum’s meeting minutes.

The formal agenda began with a report from the Governance Committee, as presented by the Personal Data Protection Commission (PDPC) of Singapore in its capacity as the Chair of the APPA Governance Committee. The APPA Secretariat announced the formal establishment of a new Working Group on Illicit Circulation of Personal Information, which will be chaired by the Personal Information Protection Commissioner (PIPC) of Korea.

This was followed by reports delivered by the two APPA Working Groups – the Communications Working Group chaired by Personal Data Protection Bureau (PDPB) Macao, China, and the Technology Working Group chaired by PDPC Singapore.

APPA members then presented their jurisdiction reports on key updates in their respective jurisdictions under two themes: (1) access and outreach and (2) investigations.

Day One also featured a panel discussion on privacy enforcement in practice, moderated by Commissioner Denise Wong of PDPC Singapore. Panellists discussed the evolving enforcement toolkit in their respective jurisdictions, experiences enforcing in a borderless, multiparty environment, and cooperation across borders and between regulators.

Day One concluded with discussions of the draft communiqué, followed by closing remarks delivered by PCPD Hong Kong.

Day Two

Day Two was opened with a short introduction and a summary of the discussion on Day One from Commissioner Ada Chung from PCPD Hong Kong, China.

Day Two then commenced with members continuing the second part of the presentation on jurisdiction reports, during which they exchanged updates on recent developments in their respective jurisdictions under the theme of legislative updates and guidance.

It was followed by a member-only group photo session and updates from the following global privacy networks and organisations, attended by both members and observers.

In addition, President Faustino Varela Monteiro of the National Commission of Data Protection, shared the work of the Network of African Data Protection Authorities (NADPA) through a video message in the session of global privacy development update.

The afternoon sessions were attended by APPA members, observers and invited guests, with focus on AI and children’s privacy. There were two expert presentations on “Understanding Agentic AI: Key Data Protection and Privacy Risks” and “Regulating the Machine that Generates, Accompanies, and Acts: China’s AI Governance, 2025–2026 ” respectively, and a roundtable discussion exploring the regulatory implications of agentic AI and emerging risks, co-hosted by Commissioner Ada Chung from PCPD Hong Kong and Commissioner Denise Wong of PDPC Singapore. The roundtable discussion highlighted the privacy and data protection challenges posed by agentic AI, with attendees acknowledging the importance of stronger organisational safeguards, timely regulatory guidance, international cooperation and public education to support the safe and trustworthy development of emerging AI technologies.

The Forum concluded with a panel discussion, moderated by Mr Miguel Bernal-Castillero, Director of International, Domestic and Stakeholder Relations of the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada, on protecting children’s data and privacy in the age of social media platforms and AI. The panel highlighted the shared concerns among privacy regulators and possible measures to strengthen the protection of children’s online privacy in the digital environment.

APPA members reaffirmed the importance of continuous dialogue, information sharing and regulatory cooperation in promoting effective privacy protection across the Asia-Pacific region. The 65^th APPA Forum provided a timely opportunity for members, observers and invited guests to deepen mutual understanding, exchange practical responses to current and emerging privacy issues, and strengthen collaboration on matters of shared concern.

At the end of Day Two, the draft communique was approved for release.

The Forum was ended by closing remarks from the PCPD Hong Kong, China.

65^th APPA Forum attendees

Office of the Australian Information Commissioner, Australia
Information and Privacy Commission, New South Wales, Australia
Office of the Information Commissioner, Queensland, Australia
Office of the Victorian Information Commissioner, Victoria, Australia
Office of the Privacy Commissioner, Canada
Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner, British Columbia
Office of the Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data, Hong Kong, China
Personal Data Protection Bureau, Macao, China
Personal Information Protection Commission, Japan
Personal Information Protection Commission, Korea
Office of the Privacy Commissioner, New Zealand
National Privacy Commission, the Philippines
Personal Data Protection Commission, Singapore
Office of the Personal Data Protection Committee, Thailand
Federal Trade Commission, the United States
California Privacy Protection Agency, the United States

Observers:

Global Privacy Assembly
Global Privacy Assembly, International Enforcement Cooperation Working Group
Global Privacy Assembly, Working Group on Ethics and Data Protection in Artificial Intelligence
Global Privacy Assembly, Data Protection and Other Rights and Freedoms Working Group
Group of Seven (G7) DPA Roundtable
Global Cross-Border Privacy Rules (CBPR) Forum
Global Privacy Enforcement Network (GPEN)
Lusophone Personal Data Protection Network (Rede de Lusófona de Proteção de Dados)
British, Irish and Islands Data Protection Authorities (BIIDPA)
Authority for Infocommunications Technology Industry of Brunei Darussalam
China Electronics Standardization Institute, China
Office of the Data Protection Authority, The Bailiwick of Guernsey
Agencia Española de Protección de Datos (AEPD), Spain
The Office of the Information Commissioner, Western Australia

Guests:

Mr Leonard CHAN, MH, Chief Product Strategist, Hong Kong Generative AI Research and Development Center
Prof Yanqing HONG, Visiting Professor, the International Research Institute for Next-Generation Internet of Macau University of Science and Technology
Ms Barbara LI, Partner, Reed Smith LLP
Dr Wayne WANG, Visiting Fellow (Researcher-in-Residence), Law and Technology Centre, University of Hong Kong