Happy new year to you all.
The ‘phoney war’ is coming to an end. The new data protection framework (still not complete, remember, absent updated rules on communications confidentiality!) has applied since May last year, but most people have probably not noticed much change to the way they are treated online, apart from a proliferation of pushy demands for ‘consent’ to accept business as usual.
In my blogpost on the May 2018 EDPS - DPO meeting, I expressed my strong belief that by the time our next meeting took place, the new Regulation for EU institutions and bodies would already be in force. How satisfying it is to see that this is indeed the case!
The history of Artificial Intelligence (AI) can be seen as a sequence of increasing expectations and of frustrating disappointments.
A swarm of misinformation and misunderstanding surrounds the case for revising our rules on the confidentiality of electronic communications, otherwise known as ePrivacy. It’s high time for some honest debunking.
Technology is changing how we think, talk and act. How do we decide what is right and wrong in an age of connected people and machines? How do we hold powerful companies and governments to account? How should technology be developed and deployed in areas where the law seems to be silent or disputed? In other words, what is ethics in the digital age?
EDPS is pleased to give its support again to the Fundamental Rights Forum, an excellent initiative for bringing together a diverse array of people who care about human rights. This year’s edition, in an exciting new venue, the METAStadt in Vienna, is expected to be bigger than ever.
August in Brussels is often a rather quiet affair as the EU bubble floats temporarily away from the European capital.
But this is no normal summer for the EDPS. In precisely two months’ time, from 22 to 26 October, the 2018 International Conference of Data Protection and Privacy Commissioners will start right here in the heart of the EU, and my staff and I are hard at work to host a data protection conversation like no other.
Data flows digitally across borders. It is therefore vital that we address data protection in a global context.
Though they may be exempt from national laws, including those relating to data protection, international organisations are influential advocates for the development of a privacy culture. Their position means that they are able to spread knowledge about data protection and privacy in parts of the world where, for various reasons, it has not necessarily been high on the agenda.
On 24-25 October this year, Brussels will be the venue for a unique international gathering. The atmosphere may perhaps be more cordial than the summit hosted by Europe’s capital earlier this week, with certainly much less disruption to traffic.