Events

The Union Internationale des Avocats (UIA) will hold a two-day seminar on data protection in the FinTech, insurance and medical services sectors. Hosted by the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg, the event is open to both lawyers and non-lawyers and will take place between 30 September and 1 October 2016.

The FinTech, insurance and medical services sectors all face common challenges when dealing with particularly sensitive data. While big data and new technologies have created new opportunities for these sectors, these developments also raise significant data protection concerns. The seminar will explore the challenges of finding a balance between the adoption of these new technologies, the search for competitiveness and the need to protect personal data, and how we can address them. Conclusions will be presented by European Data Protection Supervisor Giovanni Buttarelli alongside Dean Spielmann, a judge at the General Court of the European Union.

More information on the event and how to register can be found in the event programme.

Technology disrupts all aspects of our lives - in good ways and bad. Meanwhile, basic rights such as privacy, freedom of expression and non-discrimination are under unprecedented strain. Big Data and the Internet of Things bring policy, regulatory and enforcement challenges that require a holistic approach to ensure that the rights and interests of individuals are safeguarded in the coming decades. 

The EDPS, in collaboration with European consumer organisation BEUC, is hosting a joint conference on Big Data: individual rights and smart enforcement in Brussels on Thursday 29 September 2016. The conference will include panels on online platforms, smart technologies and the Digital Single Market. Speakers include EU Commissioner for Competition Margrethe Vestager, Federal Trade Commissoner Terrell McSweeny, BEUC Director General Monique Goyens and European Data Protection Supervisor, Giovanni Buttarelli.

This high level conference will bring together leading regulators and experts in the competition, data protection and consumer protection spheres to discuss key areas of economic and societal change, to promote closer dialogue and cooperation among regulatory and enforcement bodies and explore how to better respond to the challenges our society is facing.

The registration was closed on Monday 12 September.

Follow #BigDataRights and stay tuned!

You can find out more about EDPS work on big data here

Video recording of the meeting & the video message of Roberto Viola, Director General of DG CONNECT, European Commission.

Presentations :

Digital Festival 2016 takes place at The Egg in Brussels on 21 June 2016. This festival of ideas provides an opportunity to challenge and better understand the impact and potential of digital technologies.

As part of the festival, the EDPS has organised a workshop entitled Data Protection by Design: Privacy as an engineering principle. As people become increasingly aware of the threat of mass surveillance, the demand for more privacy friendly technologies is increasing. In the EU, data protection by design and by default will soon become a legal obligation, under the new data protection rules to be applied by May 2018. The workshop will address the different approaches to privacy engineering, the current challenges faced and initiatives, such as the Internet Privacy Engineering Network (IPEN), which aim to overcome these challenges.

The workshop takes place from 2.45pm-4pm and will be moderated by EDPS IT specialist Achim Klabunde. Confirmed speakers include Aurelie Pols, Estelle Masse, Jetzabel Serna and Aristotelis Tzafalias. To attend, please register online for the Digital Festival.

For the second year, the EDPS met with civil society organisations to discuss the state of data protection and privacy in the EU. On the agenda this year was the implementation of the GDPR and the directive on data protection rules for the police and criminal justice, the review of the ePrivacy Directive, and developments in case law in the last 12 months, notably Schrems v. Data Protection Commissioner and the proposed Privacy Shield agreement. 

The meeting took place at the EDPS premises in Brussels from 9.30am-12.30pm. If you have any questions, please write to us at edps@edps.europa.eu with '2016 EDPS- Civil Society Summit' in the subject line, and we will send you further details about the event. The videos of the event are available here: video 1, video 2.

Follow #EDPSCivSoc2016 and stay tuned!

Your personal information is collected, shared, used and stored by individuals, organisations and public authorities every day. Recruitment activities, video surveillance and health data collection are just a few examples of this. It is the job of the EDPS to ensure that the European institutions and bodies respect your data protection rights when they process your personal data.

The EDPS stand will be at the European Parliament as part of the EU institutions' Europe Day celebrations.

Located on the first floor of the ASP building, next to meeting room 3G, EDPS staff will be on hand to answer questions about your privacy rights and how to protect your personal information. Free goodies and information will be on offer, as well as fun and interactive activities for both children and adults to enjoy. You will also have a chance to win one of 20 USB sticks, simply by taking part in our fun, simple quiz!

Whether shopping online, using a smartphone or applying for jobs, data protection affects us all, so be sure to visit us at our stand to find out more!

For more information visit the Europe Day 2016 website.