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.

The Commission also invites interested parties to submit written comments or original research. A list of specific questions to inform the second roundtable discussions is available at the Commission’s website at www.ftc.gov/bcp/workshops/privacyroundtables. Although the comment period will remain open until March 17, 2010, only those comments submitted by December 21, 2009, will be considered prior to the second roundtable.

Comments should refer to “Privacy Roundtables – Comment, Project No. P095416.” To file electronically, follow the instructions and fill out the form at https://public.commentworks.com/ftc/privacyroundtable2 Paper comments should include the above reference both in the text and on the envelope, and should be mailed or delivered to: Federal Trade Commission, Office of the Secretary, Room H-135 (Annex P2), 600 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Washington, DC 20580. Comments containing confidential material, however, must be filed in paper form, must be clearly labeled “Confidential,” and must comply with Commission Rule 4.9(c). The FTC requests that any paper comments be sent by courier or overnight service, if possible, because postal mail in the Washington area and at the Commission is subject to delay due to heightened security precautions.

The questions for comment in advance of the second roundtable are:

1. What role do privacy enhancing technologies play in addressing Internet-related privacy concerns? Consider the efficacy of technological innovations in areas such as identity management systems, new means of providing consumer notice and choice, and emerging methods of ensuring accountability in data usage. In framing comments, consider the costs and benefits of privacy-enhancing technologies in the following contexts: cloud computing services; social networking sites; online behavioral advertising; the mobile environment; services that collect sensitive data, such as location-based information; and any other contexts you wish to address. If privacy enhancing technologies do play a role in resolving privacy concerns, discuss whether and how to create incentives for the development and adoption of such technologies, and ways to ensure they are effective and useful to consumers.
2. What challenges do innovations in the digital environment pose for consumer privacy, and how can those challenges be addressed without stifling innovation or otherwise undermining benefits to consumers? For example, consider the technology and business practices that enable greater collection, use, and distribution of consumer data, including evolving methods of observation and tracking; techniques for correlating data, including the re-identification of anonymized data; the merging of data between on-line and off-line environments; and the emergence of third-party application developers in online platform environments.”

Date: January 28, 2010
Location: University of California, Berkeley, School of Law; Booth Auditorium, Boalt Hall; Berkeley, CA
For more information: http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/workshops/privacyroundtables/

This entry was posted on Friday, January 15th, 2010 and is filed under Anonymity, Children, Civil liberties, Events of interest, Identification, Security, Technology. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

Possibly related posts:

• Events of Interest: HHS and FTC Roundtable on Health Records (Dec. 3)
• Events of Interest: Final FTC Privacy Roundtable (March 17)
• Update on Events of Interest: US House Committee on Homeland Security Roundtable on Privacy