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The annual International Data Protection and Privacy Commissioners' conference gathers not only public officials from national and sub-national authorities, but also other experts in the field. It is a wider meeting than the European conference not only in the geographical sense, but also in that it brings together industry representatives and academics.
The international conference is an opportunity for data protection stakeholders in Europe to meet colleagues from Canada, Latin America, Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Japan and other jurisdictions in the Asia-Pacific region. Matters of common interest and concern, challenges for the future, and how to work together and find a way forward are discussed.
On 2 and 3 November 2011, the
33rd International Conference
of Data Protection and Privacy Commissioners took place in Mexico City. The aim of the conference was to explore the path toward building the relationships and tools necessary to protect the data of individuals regardless of culture, national borders, or the challenges that come from innovative data uses. The closing session adopted a few resolutions, amongst which the so-called Mexico Declaration. This declaration urges selected stakeholders to effectively cooperate in order to confront the new challenges. One of the main challenges is how to effectively enforce data protection in a world of 'big data'. From the side of the EDPS, both Peter Hustinx and Giovanni Buttarelli moderated sessions of the conference. The 34rd International Conference is expected to take place in October or November 2012 in Uruguay.
In
2010, the International Conference was held in Jerusalem and was organised by the Israeli Law, Information and Technology Authority (ILITA). Its main theme was labelled as "Privacy: Generations" to prompt discussions on the issue of the perspectives of different generations on privacy and data protection. The plenary sessions focused on such topics as the inter-generational shift in privacy perceptions, regulatory agenda, Privacy by Design and the future of privacy. Another major subject was how laws and self-regulatory mechanisms influence technology and vice versa. The emerging use of social networks was also a key focus of the conference. The closing session adopted various resolutions, the most important one being a call for the organisation of an intergovernmental conference with a view to developing a binding international instrument on privacy and protection of personal data.
The
2009 conference
was held in Madrid from 4 to 6 November and focused on the new challenges raised by technological developments and the circulation of personal data in a global environment. The conference was an opportunity to observe a growing need for a harmonised data protection framework across borders. It is in this spirit that the conference adopted a Resolution welcoming draft International Standards on the Protection of Personal Data and Privacy, which represent the first step towards a binding international instrument.
Recent trends in the private sector were also discussed, such as behavioural advertising, the use of privacy by design and the responsibility of controllers.
The
2008 Conference
was held in Strasbourg, in the hemicycle of the Council of Europe, from 15 to 17 October 2008, around the theme "Protecting privacy in a borderless world". It was jointly organised by the French and German data protection authorities, and was part of the official program of the French Presidency of the European Union.
The 2007 Conference "Terra Incognita", was organised by the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada in Montreal. It focused on the challenge for privacy guardians entering into uncharted territory, to anticipate and plan tackle the "unknowns" in relation to privacy.
The International Working Group on Data Protection in Telecommunications (IWGDPT) was founded in 1983 in the framework of the International Conference. The Data Protection Authority of Berlin (Berliner Datenschutz-beauftragten) provides its secretariat.
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The EDPS has attended and contributed to the following International conferences:
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