A Fine Balance 2008 Privacy Technologies in Action

Date: November 27th
Location: Church House, Dean's Yard, Westminster, London, SW1P 3NZ

Following the success of the 2006 and 2007 Fine Balance events, four of the government's Knowledge Transfer Networks present the third in this series of independent forums that are already helping industry, government and academia achieve a balance between ensuring privacy and enjoying the benefits of new technology.

Moving forward from A Fine Balance 2006 and 2007, A Fine Balance 2008 will concentrate on the real world experience of using Privacy Enhancing Technologies (PETs). It will feature numerous case studies of how organisations are using PETs in practice. Specifically, what works and what does not. It will ask difficult questions that challenge whether theory can really translate into practice and start to build a coherent guide for the real world use of privacy technologies in existing information services and systems – cradle to grave.

Just one year on from the loss of more than 25 million citizens' personal data by the UK's HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC), there are already worrying signs that this disastrous demonstration of the fragility of personal privacy is just the tip of the iceberg. In the past year the DVLA has also lost 6000 people's personal details and HSBC, Nationwide and Standard Life have all made announcements reporting the loss of more than a million customers' banking information. The problem does not just exist within the UK - in Chile an anonymous hacker posted the personal details of 6 million residents online in April.

The events of the past twelve months have shaped the direction of this year's Fine Balance event. Whilst discussions on future privacy enhancing technologies (PETs) and their theoretical applications have been essential for guiding the future direction of research into privacy issues, there is a concerning lack of awareness about real world applications and how to address more immediate challenges. The question remains – ‘How can I use privacy enhancing technologies in my organisation today?' It is to this question that A Fine Balance 2008 will seek an answer.

A Fine Balance 2008 is moves on from dialogues around what could be and focuses, instead on what is happening now. It is this year's independent event targeted at offering a real review of whether today's technology can solve today's privacy problems.

Some of the most important areas of last year's event are retained. Once again the European Commission and the Office of the Information Commissioner are watching closely. Both intend to consider the outcomes of the event when determining their priorities for privacy.

To register for this year’s event please visit the Register and Contacts page on this website where you can either book online, fax/post a PDF registration form, or contact the organisers direct for more information.