FTC Announces PrivacyCon 2019 and Calls for Presentations

As part of its efforts to address evolving privacy and data security challenges, the Federal Trade Commission is announcing a call for presentations for its fourth annual PrivacyCon, to be held on June 27, 2019.

PrivacyCon 2019 aims to bring together a diverse group of stakeholders, including researchers, academics, industry representatives, consumer advocates, and government regulators, to discuss the latest research and trends related to consumer privacy and data security. 

“The FTC’s annual PrivacyCon event seeks to spur new research on privacy and security issues,” said Andrew Smith, Director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection. “It helps us keep our finger on the pulse of important developments in technology, economics, and consumer privacy so that we can ground our policymaking in real data.”

The FTC is seeking research presentations on a wide range of consumer privacy and security issues, with a particular focus on the economics driving those issues. The call for presentations seeks empirical research responding to several questions, including:

• What new privacy and security issues arise from emerging technologies such as the Internet of Things, artificial intelligence, and virtual reality?
• What are the greatest threats to consumer privacy today?
• How can one quantify the costs and benefits to consumers of keeping data about them private?
• What are the incentives for manufacturers and software developers to implement privacy and security by design in their goods or services and keep security up to date?
• Is there evidence that the market is able to provide efficient levels of privacy and data security?

Information on how to submit presentations can be found on the event page. The deadline for submitting a presentation for PrivacyCon 2019 is March 15, 2019.

PrivacyCon 2018 featured presentations on such topics as the privacy implications of email tracking, security issues with browser extensions, privacy risks associated with connected toys, and consumer privacy expectations related to Internet of Things devices.

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