Today is data privacy day

Data Protection Day logo, via OUT-law.According to Sharon E. Herbert’s superb ghosts in the machine blog:

January 28th is Data Privacy Day

The IAPP (International Association of Privacy Professionals) has declared January 28, 2008 “Data Privacy Day”, in an effort to encourage privacy professionals to give presentations at schools, colleges and universities next week on the importance of privacy.

To assist privacy professionals in their goal, the IAPP is providing some free materials, including a slideshow and handouts on teens and social networking: worthwhile reading for many parents too!

If you’re a privacy professional, educator or just concerened about privacy awareness, you may want to consider using these for your own presentation or as a springboard for discussion.

Bonus links

  • The Council of Europe page and the Data Protection Commissioner’s page on this year’s Data Protection Day.
  • My post on last year’s (first) European Data Privacy Day.
  • Google’s blog on this year’s International day (including a link to this conference), explaining that:

    Last year, the Council of Europe had a great idea. Based on polling that showed that 70% of Europeans did not understand how their personal data was being protected, the Council decided to hold the first annual Data Protection Day on January 28, 2007. … In recognition of the global importance of data protection, the U.S. and Canada have joined 27 European countries to celebrate Data Privacy Day 2008 this Monday, January 28th.

  • The first of a series of posts from OUT-Law on why it matters (and a related competition on their site).
  • And finally, ideas from Realtime via Leonardo Cervera (this year) and advice from Lex Ferenda (Daithí­ Mac Sí­thigih) (last year).
  • Update: The Digital Rights Ireland blog has a typically excellent post: Today is European Data Protection Day – What can you do to safeguard your privacy?, in turn linked to by a very interesting post on Security Watch discussing Irish events in recognition of the day.