January 28 is Data Privacy Day. Take the time to think about how privacy is important in your life and how you can protect your rights from being infringed upon. Also, please donate to any number of organizations out there trying to protect your rights generally.

Visit the official site to find events near your area. Here are a few highlights in the United States and internationally:

United States:

On January 28, 2010, the FTC will hold the second of three roundtable discussions exploring the privacy challenges posed by the vast array of 21st century technology and business practices that collect and use consumer data. The event will be held at the University of California, Berkeley, School of Law, Booth Auditorium, Boalt Hall, in Berkeley, CA and will be viewable via webcast. Questions for comment in advance of the second roundtable have been posted at the Roundtable webpage. The Commission requests that comments for the second roundtable be submitted by December 21, 2009, to ensure ample time for consideration.

The American Conference Institute presents its 9th Annual Advanced Forum on Privacy and Security of Consumer & Employee Information: Protecting and Managing Sensitive Data in an Increasingly Portable and Changing Marketplace, January 26-27, 2010, at The Madison, a Loews Hotel, in Washington, D.C. The Forum will feature the following speakers from the federal government: Cora Tung Han, an attorney with the FTC’s Division of Privacy and Identity Protection; William H. Henley, Jr., Director of IT Examinations for the Office of Thrift Supervision; Alain Sheer, Senior Attorney with the FTC’s Division of Privacy and Identity Protection; and John Walsh, Chief Counsel for the SEC’s Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations. Register for the event; view a complete list of excellent speakers drawn from private industry, state and federal governments, the financial sector, and law firms; and access the Agenda at the forum webpage.

Here’s a listing of state government events. Read more »

The FTC will host the second of three roundtables on privacy on January 28 in Berkeley, California. (Here’s info on the first roundtable.) From the press release:

The Commission also announced that it will convene its second privacy roundtable on January 28, 2010. The event, hosted by the Berkeley Center for Law and Technology, will take place at the University of California, Berkeley, School of Law Booth Auditorium. The second roundtable will focus on how technology affects consumer privacy, including its role in both raising privacy concerns and enhancing privacy protections. The roundtable will include specific discussions on cloud computing, mobile computing, and social networking. Details regarding the third and final roundtable, which will take place on March 17, 2010, in Washington, DC, will be announced at a later date.

The Privacy Roundtables are free and open to the public. Pre-registration is not required. Members of the public and press who wish to participate but who cannot attend can view a live Webcast.

Individuals and organizations may submit requests to participate as panelists in the second roundtable and may recommend topics for inclusion on the agenda. The requests and recommendations should be submitted electronically to [email protected] Prospective panelists for the second roundtable should submit a statement detailing their expertise on the issues to be addressed and contact information, no later than December 9, 2009. Panelists will be selected based on expertise and the need to include a broad range of views. Please note that if you already have submitted a request to participate in the first roundtable event, you need not submit another request. All requests already submitted will be considered for all roundtable events. Read more »

The Federal Communications Commission has released a public notice (pdf) asking for comments on “questions about the use of personal information and privacy in an online, broadband world” that were raised in a letter by the Center for Democracy and Technology. Comments are due by Friday, January 22, a little more than a week from now.  See below for information on how to file.

The questions the FCC wants comments on are:

Meeting Consumer Expectations of Privacy. The Commission has received comments suggesting that the use of personal information remains central to the success of many of the technologies considered, yet trust in these technologies depends on the ability to meet basic consumer expectations of privacy. The Commission invites further comment on this issue, including:

1. What principles and standards should be considered to help articulate existing consumer expectations of privacy?
2. What can federal agencies do to help ensure that consumer expectations of privacy are met as new technologies platforms are developed?
3. Are there industry best practices or regulatory models that are useful in helping to ensure that can be adapted across technology platforms to ensure that users are protected while allowing for the proper use of personal information?

Building Privacy by Design. The Commission would like further comment on ways to promote the development of technologies that protect privacy as they also utilize data. Read more »

From the Web site:

Data Collection, Privacy, and Competition

With the integration of the internet into vast areas of trade and commerce, the importance of being able to reach a large and targeted potential customer base is placing a premium on the retention of large amounts of private information that may then be used to sell goods and services. The privacy implications of this phenomenon have been much discussed. But does the practice of collecting private information raise competition issues? If so, how should competition concerns be balanced against the benefits consumers may gain from these practices? Is this a matter that warrants intervention by competition authorities? Is there a synergy between privacy and competition concerns or are they effectively separate inquiries? Read more »

From the Web site:

Reforming Internet Privacy Law at 1 p.m.

(See more below on: A Gentle Introduction to the Electronic Communications Privacy Act at 11:00 a.m.)

Webcast will be available: http://www.nextgenweb.org/

How much privacy do we enjoy online; when should the need for privacy give way to other societal needs; and how should law guarantee online privacy, if at all? The answers to these questions turn on some first-principles disagreements: Should we protect privacy through a patchwork of statutes and regulations, as we have to date, or should we instead enact omnibus privacy rules which govern across industries and provide uniform standards across the country? When does the need to enable new forms of behavioral marketing outweigh small incursions into user privacy? How can we balance the need for privacy against the government’s need to investigate online crime and protect national security?

Many have criticized the patchwork of federal and state laws which regulate privacy on the Internet. These critics contend that these laws, which govern what both governments and private parties such as businesses can do to track behavior and communications online, are vague and confusing, failing to keep up with breathtaking Internet advances. Read more »

The Center on National Security and the Law at Georgetown Law will hold an event today, “Biometrics and the Law.” From the site:

Biometric ID systems have the capacity to automatically identify and track individuals based on stored data on their biological and behavioral characteristics, including facial features, vascular and retinal patterns, voice, gait, skull resonance, DNA, and yes – even hormones. What are the policy applications and the legal and privacy implications of recent advances in biometric technologies?

Panelists include:

Stewart A. Baker, Former Assistant Secretary for Policy at the US Dept of Homeland Security Read more »