What are the Fair Information Practices? | FIPPs

The Fair Information Practice Principles, or FIPPs, are a set of principles for data privacy that many organizations follow today.

What are the Fair Information Practice Principles (FIPPs)?

Fair Information Practices, also known as the Fair Information Practice Principles (FIPPs), are eight data usage, collection, and privacy principles. They were published in 1980 by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and several countries agreed upon them in principle.

Although not officially part of any privacy legislation, these principles remain 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 essential privacy frameworks like the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA).

The eight Fair Information Practice Principles are:

1. Collection Limitation Principle. There should be limits to the collection of personal data, and any such data should be obtained by lawful and fair means and, where appropriate, with the knowledge or consent of the data subject.
2. Data Quality Principle. Personal data should be relevant to the purposes for which they are to be used and, to the extent necessary, should be accurate, complete, and kept up-to-date.
3. Purpose Specification Principle. The purposes for which personal data are collected should be specified not later than at the time of data collection, and the subsequent use is limited to the fulfillment of those purposes or such others as are not incompatible with those purposes and as are specified on each occasion of change of purpose.
4. Use Limitation Principle. Personal data should not be disclosed, made available, or otherwise used for purposes other than those specified per [the Purpose Specification Principle] except a) with the consent of the data subject or b) by the authority of law.
5. Security Safeguards Principle. Reasonable security safeguards should protect personal data against such risks as loss or unauthorized access, destruction, use, modification, or disclosure of data.
6. Openness Principle. There should be a general policy of openness about developments, practices, and policies concerning personal data. Means should be readily available for establishing the existence and nature of personal data and the primary purposes of their use, as well as the identity and usual residence of the data controller.
7. Individual Participation Principle. An individual should have the right:
   1. To obtain from a data controller, or otherwise, confirmation of whether or not the data controller has data relating to him;
   2. To have communicated to him data relating to him within a reasonable time, at a charge, if any, that is not excessive; in a reasonable manner, and in a form that is readily intelligible to him;
   3. To be given reasons if a request made under subparagraphs (a) and (b) is denied, and to be able to challenge such denial; and
   4. To challenge data relating to him and, if the challenge is successful, to have the data erased, rectified, completed, or amended.
8. Accountability Principle. A data controller should be accountable for complying with measures that affect the abovementioned principles.

How did the Fair Information Practices develop?

The FIPPs 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, “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 forming an essential part of data privacy and protection guidelines.

Are the Fair Information Practices part of any privacy legislation?

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 in other official privacy frameworks.

For instance, the Individual Participation principle (No. 7) lists several rights 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’ descriptions and requirements. Organizations that want to comply with the GDPR, the CCPA, or any other privacy legislation must ensure they follow the requirements of those specific pieces of legislation, not just the FIPPs.