As European Data Protection Supervisor Peter Hustinx stated at the IAPP Europe Data Protection Congress: “I would not be surprised if the privacy profession would just explode in the coming years.”
700 participants and nearly 40% more than last year at one of Europe’s biggest privacy congress that took place from 10-12 December in Brussels show that his prediction is likely to happen. You can read about the most interesting discussions and quotes on Twitter.
Hot topics at the congress were recent developments regarding the EU Data Protection Regulation, but also Privacy by Design. I moderated a session about Current and Future Privacy Trends with Facebook’s Head of Policy Erika Mann and Aurélie Pols, who stated that many people say: “Yeah, privacy by design. We do it. But that’s not the reality at most companies.” I totally agree and I consider the concept of Privacy by Design as very important, but there lacks a clear definition in the upcoming data protection regulation about what it really means in practice and which level is adequate.
Siobhan McDermott, Chief Policy Officer at AVG, made a funny but true statement in our session that “NSA is looking for a privacy pro, although I don’t think anyone is crazy enough to take that job.”