“Data Privacy in Transatlantic perspective: Conflict or Cooperation?” will bring together leading schollars, privacy professionals and government officials from Europe and the United States in a day-long discussion on the future of data privacy.
The Conference is open to all interested persons and there is no fee. It will carry out six hours of Continuing Legal Education Credits for 2007 or 2008.
All detail and logistical information can be found here.
Due to the overwhelming interest in this conference, we would greatly appreciate it if you would inform us if you plan to attend so that we might have available seating. You may contact Sharon McHugh Peters at sharon.peters@duke.edu.
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PROGRAM OF THE CONFERENCE
In today’s world, the right to privacy has come under immense pressure. Thanks to the terrific capabilities of modern technology, electronic data on our personal lives is gathered, stored, and shared on a scale that was unimaginable even a decade ago. The imperatives of national security have led governments across the world to call for more personal data to be collected directly by public authorities or to be siphoned from private corporations engaged in data processing for their own business purposes.
Notwithstanding these developments both European and American law is designed to safeguard privacy. To be sure, the law of privacy in the United States and Europe can differ dramatically. Yet both communities seek to protect their members from intrusive observation by others. Without such safeguards, individual autonomy and liberal democracy are unthinkable.
This day-long conference will bring together leading legal scholars, privacy professionals, and government officials from Europe and the United States to discuss the future of data privacy in light of these new realties. What are the differences in the legal safeguards for data privacy in the United States and Europe? How successful have the two systems been in mediating between legitimate demands for personal data and the right to privacy? What are the prospects for transatlantic cooperation on data privacy? And, ultimately, will the liberal commitment to privacy survive the radical technical and political transformations occurring in contemporary society?
8.15 - 8.45 am Coffee and Continental Breakfast
8.45 - 9.00 Welcome and Opening Remarks
- Francesca Bignami, Professor, Duke University School of Law; Director, Duke Center for European Studies
- Peter Lange, Provost, Duke University
9.00 - 10.15 Panel One: The Past and Present of Data Privacy
Moderator: Leonardo Cervera Navas, EU Fellow at Duke University; Coordinator of the Data Privacy Day
Panelists:
- Howard Beales, Professor at George Washington University; former Director of the FTC Bureau of Consumer Protection
- Peter Hustinx, European Data Protection Supervisor of the European Union; first chairman of the Article 29 Working Party (1996-2000), and former Dutch Data Protection Commissioner
- Stefano Rodotà, Professor at La Sapienza University, Roma; former Member of the Italian Parliament (1979-1996); Italian Data Protection Commissioner (1997-2005), and Chairman of the Article 29 Working Party (2000-2004)
Data privacy was first recognized as a distinct policy area in the early 1970s with the enactment of legislation in the United States, Sweden, and the German Land of Hessen. Since then, the law of data privacy has changed dramatically. The panelists, all of whom have been highly influential in shaping today’s legal framework, will trace the twists and turns of data privacy from the beginnings to the present day. They will also reflect on contemporary privacy challenges in light of this historical background.
10.15 - 10.30 Coffee Break
10.30 - 12.15 Panel Two: Consumer Privacy through Notice and Consent
Moderator: Sarah Ludington, Professor, Duke University School of Law
Panelists:
- Annie Anton, Associate Professor at North Carolina State University; founder and director of ThePrivacyPlace.org
- Giovanni Buttarelli, Secretary General of Il Garante per la Protezione dei dati personali (Italian Data Protection Authority)
- Fred Cate, Director of the Center for Applied Cybersecurity Research; Distinguished Professor, Indiana University School of Law
- Kathryn Ratte, Attorney, US Federal Trade Commission
- Peter Swire, Senior Fellow at the Center for American Progress; Professor at the Ohio State University
One of the main safeguards for consumer privacy is the duty to give the consumer notice of the firm’s privacy practices and to obtain consumer consent before going ahead with personal-data collection. In the United States, this duty is a feature of both sector-specific privacy statutes and market-based self-regulation. In the European Union, Personal Data Protection Directive 95/46 requires vendors to disclose extensive information on their privacy practices and, in many cases, if consumer consent is forthcoming, permits the vendor to go ahead with data processing. The panelists will assess the effectiveness of these notice and consent rules in protecting consumer privacy. They will also consider the feasibility and desirability of other regulatory techniques for improving consumer privacy.
12.15 - 1.45 Lunch
1.45 – 3.30 Panel Three: Privacy and National Security
Moderator: Frank Schmiedel, Delegation of the European Commission in Washington D.C., responsible for Justice, Liberty and Security matters
Panelists:
- Florence Audubert, Senior Counsel in the Offfice of Legal Affairs, INTERPOL; Secretary of the Commission of Control of INTERPOL’s Files (CFF)
- Francesca Bignami, Professor, Duke University School of Law; Director, Duke Center for European Studies
- Anne Klinefelter, Associate Professor of Law and Director of the Law Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Law
- John Kropf, Deputy Chief Privacy Officer at the Department of Homeland Security
- Thomas Zerdick, Administrator of the Justice, Liberties and Security DG, European Commission
Governments on both sides of the Atlantic are demanding more and more personal data to ward off terrorist attacks and other threats to national security. But European countries are bound by a more comprehensive set of data privacy guarantees than is the United States. This panel will examine current government counterterrorism initiatives and the domestic legal contexts in which they operate. The panelists will also examine the extent of transatlantic cooperation on national security and whether transatlantic differences on data privacy have posed a serious obstacle to such cooperation.
3.30 - 3.45 Coffee break
3.45 - 5.30 Panel Four: Global Data Flows and National Privacy Standards
Moderator: Richard Purcell, Corporate Privacy Group; former Chief Privacy Officer at Microsoft
Panelists:
- Joe Alhadeff , Chief Privacy Officer, Oracle
- Damon Greer, Safe Harbor Program Director, US Department of Commerce
- David Hoffman, Group Counsel and Director Privacy and Security Policy, Intel
- Jane Horvarth (US), Google; former Chief Privacy Officer, US Department of Justice
- Campbell Tucker, Senior Vice-President of Wachovia
Electronic data can travel the globe almost instantaneously. Although this gives rise to immense opportunities, the ease with which personal data crosses national borders poses challenges for both regulators and firms. This panel will consider the experience over the past decade with cross-border data transfers from both the business and the government perspectives. How do firms handle the demands of multiple, sometimes conflicting data privacy standards? Is there a “California effect” in the data privacy area as there is in, say, automobile safety? On the regulatory side, has the European Union’s attempt to assure data privacy for its citizens abroad succeeded? More specifically, in the United States, has the Safe Harbor Agreement led to significant changes in the way in how corporations treat their consumers’ personal data? And, internationally, what are the prospects of regulatory convergence?
5.30 - 6.30 Reception - Third Floor Loggia
Sponsored by the law firm of Womble, Carlyle, Sandridge & Rice, LLC
