idw – Informationsdienst Wissenschaft
Nachrichten, Termine, Experten
Nachrichten, Termine, Experten
The institution of privacy and data protection commissioners has developed into a veritable success since its introduction with the Hessian Data Protection Act of 1970. Data Protection Authorities (DPAs) get involved in societal processes of discussion and interpretation, analysis and critique, negotiation and revision of data protection and data protection law. Their expertise is sought after in legislative processes, and their power of interpretation is dreaded by controllers. They are praised as defenders of fundamental rights in the information society and cursed as enemies of progress and blockers at the same time. However, they rarely have been an object of scientific investigation themselves so far.
Our interdisciplinary workshop aims at bringing together scholars and practitioners to shed light on the role of DPAs in the governance of privacy and data protection. We especially want to focus on processes: the cooperation across borders, the exchange and debate with data controllers, politics and civil society, the negotiation, interpretation and implementation of standards and laws. In particular, we want to debate how DPAs act in the various social discussion and negotiation fora, and how their action is enabled, enhanced or limited by their legal and institutional form, their staff and disciplinary backgrounds, the infrastructure and individuals who – like Spiros Simitis or Ann Cavoukian – are particularly visible as data protection commissioners. A special focus is on the new General Data Protection Regulation, both in terms of the DPAs’ contribution in the process of its creation as well as the future role of supervisory authorities. The question is, in what areas and fora DPAs are more successful so far in exerting influence than in others, whether there are differences between DPAs with regard to their influence, and which legal or institutional conditions and/or strategies might explain these differences. Moreover, it remains to be discussed, which role DPAs play in negotiating and shaping regulatory regimes – from «traditional» top-down regulation to (regulated) self-regulation –, what their objectives are and to what extent these objectives reflect the institutional interests of the regulators themselves.
We furthermore will pay special attention to the challenges that arise for DPAs from the multidisciplinarity of the privacy problem, the increasing self-limitation of the debate to expert circles, and the need for imparting the problem and possible solutions to a (legal as well as technical) lay audience.
We look forward to your contributions, please check the requirements on our website: http://www.hiig.de/events/the-role-of-regulatory-authorities-in-the-governance-o...
The keynote address will be delivered by Marit Hansen, Data Protection Commissioner of the German state of Schleswig-Holstein. Moreover, we have won Alexander Dix, Spiros Simitis (solicited) and Thilo Weichert (solicited) as participating experts for the workshop to enrich the debate with their wide experience in the practices of DPAs, national, regional and global cooperation, and scholarly, political and legislative debates.
We strive for publishing all contributions, a report on the workshop and possible further contributions arising from the workshop discussion in a volume of conference proceedings by autumn 2016.
Information on participating / attending:
Registrations due: April 30, 2016. Please contact Jörg Pohle.
Date:
05/20/2016 - 05/20/2016
Event venue:
HIIG, Französische Straße 9
10117 Berlin
Berlin
Germany
Target group:
Scientists and scholars, Students
Email address:
Relevance:
transregional, national
Subject areas:
Information technology, Law, Media and communication sciences, Politics, Social studies
Types of events:
Seminar / workshop / discussion
Entry:
04/04/2016
Sender/author:
Jenny Fadranski
Department:
Kommunikation
Event is free:
yes
Language of the text:
English
URL of this event: http://idw-online.de/en/event53881
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