G7 Digital Ministers Action Plan for Promoting Data Free Flow with Trust.

The Digital Ministers of the G7 adopted, on 11 May 2022, a Ministerial Declaration on current issues associated with digital transformation and related frameworks. In particular, the declaration commits to shared policy objectives on a number of topics including digitialisation and the environment, data, competition in digital markets, and eSafety. In terms of data policy, the declaration coins the term 'Data Free Flow with Trust' ('DFFT') and outlines that the G7 has adopted its G7 Action Plan for Plan for Promoting Data Free Flow with Trust, attached as an annex to the declaration. 

In addition, it is outlined that through the Action Plan, the G7 nations are committing to the following actions:

• strengthening the evidence base for DFFT, which includes, among other things working to better understanding data localisation, its implications, and alternatives to it;
• building on commonalties in order to foster future interoperability, including analysis of common practices such as Standard Contractual Clauses ('SCCs') and technologies that enhance trust;
• continuing regulatory cooperation, including discussions around regulatory approaches to privacy-enhancing technologies, data intermediaries, web tracking, emergent risks, cross-border sandboxes, and the promotion of interoperability of data protection frameworks, among other things;
• promoting DFFT in the context of digital trade; and
• sharing knowledge about the prospects for international data spaces, which, the Action Plan outlines, may be seen as an emerging approach to trusted and voluntary data sharing within organisations and sectors.