Computers, Privacy, and Data Protection, the international conference devoted to privacy and data protection, will now accept papers until October 22, 2016. The theme of CPDP2017 is "The Age of Intelligent Machines." CPDP2017 will be held on 25-27 January 2017 in Brussels. The CPDP2017 Call for Papers is addressed to all researchers who wish to present papers. All submitted papers will be peer reviewed by members of the CPDP 2017 Scientific Committee (and other independent reviewers where necessary) and will be commented upon by distinguished scholars. EPIC is one of many organizations sponsoring the event. The 2017 EPIC International Champion of Freedom Award will be presented at CPDP.
The Federal Communications Commission has released a fact sheet outlining a revised proposal for broadband privacy rules. The revised rules will require ISPs to obtain consumers consent only for use of "sensitive" information. The original proposal offered privacy protections for all consumer data. ISPs will also be permitted to charge higher prices for basic privacy protections, subject to FCC review. EPIC has said that the FCC should go further to safeguard consumer privacy. The Commission plans to vote on the proposal on October 27th.
Reuters reported today that Yahoo scanned the private email of Yahoo users pursuant to a secret directive issued by the FBI. The email scanning technique, based on a search for key terms, recalled a similar FBI program “Carnivore” that was found to capture far more information than authorized, according to documents obtained by EPIC under the Freedom of Information Act. The news report also renews concerns about the scope of US Internet surveillance. The European Court of Justice struck down an EU-US data transfer deal last year, following revelations that US Internet firms collaborated with the NSA to enable mass surveillance. A related case, Irish Data Protection Commissioner v. Facebook, is now pending. The Irish High Court has selected EPIC as "a friend of the court" to "counterbalance" the submission of the United States intelligence community.
