“The Federal Trade Commission welcomed the approval of the United States’ participation in the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Cross-Border Privacy Rules system, which was announced by the U.S. Department of Commerce today. The APEC privacy system is a self-regulatory initiative to enhance the protection of consumer data that moves between the United States and other APEC members through a voluntary but enforceable code of conduct implemented by participating businesses. President Obama and representatives from the other APEC economies endorsed the system in November 2011. On July 25, 2012 the United States was approved as the first formal participant in the system and the FTC as the system’s first privacy enforcement authority…Additional information about the Cross Border Privacy Rules is available via the APEC Electronic Commerce Steering Group website.”