Today at the 31st International Conference of Data Protection and Privacy in Madrid, US Secretary of Homeland Security spoke to those of us in attendance about her goal of a US-EU binding agreement on data sharing and privacy. See this account from former Hogan & Hartson partner Mary Ellen Callahan, now Chief Privacy Officer at DHS, who accompanied Secretary Napolitano to Europe.
Following the ceremonial opening of the conference and addresses from senior government officials from Spain and the US, the delegates got down to work on granular issues of privacy and data protection. Look for more reports as the meeting progresses.