- Strategic Business Plan: ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 44 Consumer Protection in the Field of Privacy by Design
E-Privacy
European stakeholders—including consumer protection agencies, privacy NGOs, and SMEs—benefit from standards that operationalise the GDPR’s intentions while ensuring international interoperability. Yet their effective participation requires active facilitation, particularly in new structures such as SC 44, which currently lack established consumer consultation mechanisms. The fellowship addressed this through structured moderation, bilateral liaison efforts (e.g. SC 27, SC 37, SC 42, OECD, TACD), and the development of participation tools that lower the threshold for stakeholder input. In the long term, systematic integration of consumer needs into technical standardisation will create both societal and economic value—opening opportunities for European SMEs and civil-society actors to co-shape usable, rights-based privacy-by-design standards.
The focused standards have several key societal impact: Consumer trust and transparency: By developing modular, user-centric privacy standards (ISO 31700 family), the work enables individuals to better understand, control, and contest how their personal data are used across digital services. Fairness and due process: Standardising transparency and accountability mechanisms strengthens procedural safeguards for consumers and ensures consistent respect for rights across jurisdictions. Inclusion and accessibility: SC 44’s stakeholder model - outlined in the Strategic Business Plan - lowers participation barriers for consumer groups, NGOs, and SMEs, thus widening representation in global ICT standardisation. Digital skills and awareness: Reusable guidance and patterns developed under SC 44 support capacity-building for both implementers and end-users, contributing to digital-skills and literacy objectives in the EU. Socio-economic resilience: By reducing compliance costs and promoting interoperable privacy solutions, the standards ecosystem strengthens the competitiveness of European SMEs while reinforcing consumer rights and social trust online. In sum, the fellowship advances a human-centred digital transformation, where privacy, transparency, and usability become intrinsic features of technology design—helping to operationalise European values of trust, accountability, and fairness in the global digital economy.
Value of Research
This fellowship targets consumer-centric privacy by design in international standards work. Moreover, the Specific priorities, gaps and challenges identified are:
