Antitrust Law Daily Wrap Up, PRIVACY NEWS: FTC to host conference on new research and trends in protecting consumer privacy, (Aug 28, 2015)

By Michael Menzhuber, J.D., LL.M.

As part of its effort to increase its engagement with the technology community in order to more effectively encourage innovation that is protective of consumer privacy and security, the FTC will host a conference entitled “Privacy Con” on January 14, 2016, the agency announced today. The purpose of this first of its kind conference will be to examine cutting-edge research and trends in protecting consumer privacy and security.

The conference will bring together leading stakeholders, including whitehat researchers, academics, industry representatives, federal policymakers, consumer advocates and others to discuss their original research findings and the implications for consumer privacy. Panel discussions at the conference will address the research presentations, develop suggestions for further collaboration between researchers and policymakers, and highlight steps that companies and consumers can and should take to protect themselves and their data.

“We want to increase the FTC’s engagement with the technology community in order to more effectively encourage innovation that is protective of consumer privacy and security,” said FTC Chairwoman Edith Ramirez. “At PrivacyCon, our goal is to have leading experts in privacy and data security sit at the table with us and other policymakers to discuss their original research findings and the implications for consumer privacy."

The conference, which will be held at the FTC’s Constitution Center offices, will be free and open to the public. The conference, including all presentations, will be available to the public via a live-stream and on the FTC website in archived video and transcript form.

Call for Presentations. FTC staff has issued a call for presentations seeking original research on new vulnerabilities and how they might be exploited to harm consumers; as well as recent research in areas such as big data, the Internet of Things, and consumer attitudes toward privacy. The FTC is seeking research from a variety of disciplines, such as data analytics, computer security, marketing, and economics. Details on the call for presentations will be available on the PrivacyCon website shortly.

News: Privacy FederalTradeCommissionNews