A panel entitled “Transparency by Default: An Internet Transparency Code of Practice” was held on 20 May 2026 during the yearly CPDP Conference, with the participation of Ana Brian Nougrères, the UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Privacy, Mark Lizar, Transparency Lab – Canada, Jan Schallaböck, Vice-Convener/Convener-support to the ISO/IEC Working Group on privacy and identity management (ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 27/WG 5) and Peter Kits, KPMG. The panellists discussed – among others - how Convention 108+ can be operationalised through a concrete Transparency by Default code of practice and how does embedding transparency upfront shift data governance from reactive to proactive.
It was agreed among the speakers that individuals and even regulators struggle to determine who is accountable, what purpose is pursued, what authority or justification is relied on, until long after processing is underway. In parallel, digital identification demands are frequently introduced early in the interaction before accountability and transfer conditions are inspectable creating an avoidable “trust us” digital privacy risk posture. This panel explored then a practical “Operational Transparency” code‑of‑practice approach grounded in Convention 108+ and operationalized through ISO/IEC WG 5 standardisation work—to define what must be inspectable before identification is demanded and before transfer occurs, and what evidence artefacts make oversight scalable.
During her initial intervention the Special Rapporteur “ called upon the global community —regulators, technologists, and civil society— to champion this operational transparency.” She added “ We must demand that digital systems are architected to prove their compliance and accountability at the very first point of interaction (…)”
Read the whole speech here.
The lively and engaging discussions ended with confirming need of a true commitment to building a digital ecosystem where privacy is the default, where transparency is fully operationalized, and where human dignity remains the indisputable centre of our shared digital future.
