Data Protection Day
Next: January 28, 2027
Your data, your story.
The story
Where it comes from
On 28 January 1981 the Council of Europe opened Convention 108 for signature, the world's first binding international treaty dedicated to protecting personal data. In 2006 its Committee of Ministers designated the anniversary Data Protection Day, to raise awareness of the need to respect and protect people's privacy. The day is now marked worldwide as International Data Protection Day or, especially outside Europe, Privacy Day.
How it's celebrated
Data protection authorities around the world hold conferences, publish guidance and run campaigns, and the Council of Europe brings them together online to share what they are doing. For everyone else it is a good day for a small digital tidy-up: check the privacy settings on your phone, delete the apps you no longer use, and help an older relative do the same.
Did you know
- A modernised version of the treaty, known as Convention 108+, is open to countries on every continent, not only in Europe.
- The Council of Europe, which created the day, is a separate organisation from the European Union.
- Convention 108+ is being applied to new questions such as neurotechnology and large language models.
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