ISO/IEC 15944-8:2012 has been developed to support modelling generic international requirements for identifying and providing privacy protection of personal information throughout any kind of information and communications technology (ICT) based business transaction where the individual has the role of a buyer. It provides users and designers with a methodology and tools addressing requirements imposed by jurisdictional domains.

ISO/IEC 15944-8:2012 takes the "business operational view" (BOV) aspects developed in ISO/IEC 14662, together with, in particular, ISO/IEC 15944-1 and ISO/IEC 15944-5 as well as many other international references.

ISO/IEC 15944 models the requirements of jurisdictional domains as external constraints upon the creation, use, interchange, and information life-cycle management of data. ISO/IEC 15944-8:2012 addresses the wider context of the public policy requirements of jurisdictional domains controlling the use of personal information (PI). These include regulations for consumer protection, privacy protection, individual accessibility, etc.

ISO/IEC 15944-8:2012 identifies and expands upon eleven generic, primitive, international principles that have been associated with privacy protection by international, regional, and UN member states' requirements. It models them with respect to the "collaboration space" of a business transaction and commitment exchange involving an individual acting in the role of a "buyer". It provides principles and rules governing the establishment, management and use of identifiers of that individual, including the use of legally recognized names (LRNs), recognized individual identity (rii), and methods of non-identification such as the use of anonymization and pseudonymization of personal information.

ISO/IEC 15944-8:2012 also sets out principles governing information life-cycle management (ILCM) as well as the rules and associated coded domains for obtaining informed consent for collection, specifying state changes, records retention, record deletion and related matters in support of privacy protection requirements.