Privacy officers face
another year of being deluged with literally hundreds of opportunities to
attend data protection awareness sessions to ensure that everyone understands
what the rules are, and how these can best be implemented.
They can expect a tsunami
of events related to the recent reactions to the latest proposals that have
been published to change the current Data Protection Directive. The latest reactions,
either from European Parliamentarians, national Governments, or from the usual
suspects, will spew out into cyberspace like water from a fire hydrant.
If you can’t cope with
all the invites, don’t worry. Join the club.
Last February, I started
to note privacy events that might be of interest to (the average) British
privacy officer. By the end of the year, my list had grown to some 140 events. On any given Tuesday, Wednesday or
Thursday, somewhere near London a privacy event was taking place. Earlier in my
career, when working for a Congressman on Capitol Hill in Washington DC, I would hardly ever
need to eat at home, such was the abundance of canapés at the political events
I attended every evening. Well, those gluttonous days are back again. Thanks to
the most gracious generosity of so many legal firms, holding seminars and
workshops for those who know how to get an invite, my home cooking days are
long gone.
I expect to see lots of friends
towards the end of the month, when the conference circus briefly moves to
Brussels. Three whole days of earnest debate. Detailed philosophical speeches
on the meaning and the future of privacy – before most people return to work
with a bump and remember how hard it currently is to actually get even the basics
right.
All this utopian academic
speculation really is wonderful, but it is worlds away from life as I live it,
which involves inspiring real people to realise that it’s in their own
interests to effect minor behavioural changes to make things more
transparent.
I do feel slightly sorry,
though, for those who are constantly on the conference circuit. They appear to
glide from one venue to the next, woven into a bubble with their contemporaries,
with their feet mostly just above the ground, rather than on it. Pontificating
on grand principles and statements are fine, but what works in theory has to
work in practice. If it doesn’t work in practice, it’s worthless.
After that, the next
global bash will be Data Protection Day (also known as Groundhog Day”) on 28
January, where privacy professionals from all over the world will gather in
their local groups to celebrate the wonderful careers that can be carved out in
this field. Sometimes, it appears that cities just don’t have venues that are
large enough to hold all the privacy professionals that want to attend. In
Washington DC, for example, two IAPP parties will be held to commemorate Data
Protection Day. No, the venues aren’t miles apart from each other, either.
Privacy folk can either choose the Asia Nine Bar at 915 E Street, or they can
go to Penn Social, situated on the next block at 801 E Street.
In case party goers get
confused as to which venue to attend, a special instruction announces that the
Penn Social event: “is for Young Professionals in the Washington, DC, area.”
How about that! So when will we all next get invited to a presentation
on “Privacy and Ageism?”
Joking apart, I would like to attend an event on privacy and ageism. There
is a generational divide in attitudes to privacy, and I would like to hope that
any new privacy rules focus on the needs of emerging generations. Not just
the concerns of the generation representing the crusties who are currently at
the pinnacle of their own regulatory careers.
Source:
http://www.martinhoskins.com/privacy-events/archive-of-previous-events
Image Credit:
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