Privacy Commissioner Strengthens International Cooperation

In June 2026, the Privacy Commissioner of Canada joined his G7 Data Protection and Privacy Authorities (the “G7 DPAs”) counterparts for their sixth annual roundtable. The discussions focused on strengthening international cooperation to support responsible innovation while protecting individuals’ privacy in the digital environment.

One topic of discussion was the privacy risks associated with connected home devices, such as smart TVs and virtual voice assistants. The G7 DPAs released a joint paper highlighting the risks these devices present, particularly for children who may be less aware of how their personal information is collected, used, and shared.  The joint paper encourages manufacturers, software providers, and companies in the online tracking ecosystem to ensure connected devices adhere to key privacy principles, including lawful and fair data processing, valid consent mechanisms, strong security measures, the avoidance of passive collection of data, and appropriate data retention, among others. 

The G7 DPAs also issued a joint communiqué, outlining their discussions on several privacy issues, including age assurance, smart glasses, agentic artificial intelligence, connected home devices, and data free flow with trust. The communiqué affirms the G7 DPAs’ commitment to ongoing cooperation in these areas to support a safe and trusted digital environment. 

In addition, the G7 DPAs released a joint statement for privacy- preserving age assurance. The statement calls for the development of age-assurance technologies that are interoperable, trustworthy and privacy-preserving. It emphasises the importance of certain data protection and privacy issues raised by age assurance technologies such as protecting individuals’ rights and freedoms, ensuring effective age assurance measures that avoid unnecessary risks to individuals’ privacy, and implementing appropriate technical and organizational measures to ensure the security of personal data, among other things.

For more information on the topics of discussion at the roundtable, see the G7 DPAs’ joint paper on connected home devices and children’s privacy (here), the joint communiqué (here), and the joint statement for privacy-preserving age assurance (here).

Summary By: Victoria Di Felice